Critics have said NZ banks refusal to plug these gaps meant NZ was seen as a soft touch by scammers, who used sophisticated schemes including mock websites and detailed investment pitches to trick people into paying out sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. Recently a Parliamentary committee recommended NZ banks adopt confirmation of payee, ratcheting up the pressure on the industry. One devastating scam has seen New Zealanders make payments to NZ mule bank accounts which were meant to be Citibank accounts, for faked term deposit investments. He said NZ banks had effectively gone on record to say they needed to build confirmation of payee to protect consumers, "and they haven't up to this point". Banks will work with Payments NZ, which governs the payments system, to help make this a reality.”Payments NZ is owned by the banks.

Source: Stuff September 15, 2023 06:44 UTC