This challenge extends to communication with banks. In most cases, when a bank emails you (or sends an in-app message) the icon next to their name is “blank”; and it’s very hard to tell who is a scammer or not. A sea of emails = a minefield of scams.

As of last week, Emerge and SquareOne have fixed this by becoming NZ's first fintech/payments providers to become “Blue tick verified”, meaning all of its email communications now carry a distinct ‘Blue tick’.

Emerge and SquareOne communications now have a 'Blue tick'

Co-Founder of Emerge and SquareOne Jovan Pavlicevic says that although overseas finance companies are adopting the 'Blue tick' with increasing urgency, "It's not fast enough; and New Zealand has been characteristically slow on the uptake. A 'Blue tick' needs to become the standard way of providing customers the reassurance that emails are genuine and not a Phishing scam. It's a simple but powerful solution and offers proof that a company has all of the right credentials and controls in place to safeguard their client's personal data."

The announcement comes amidst an increase in scam activity following the CrowdStrike outage.

What is ‘Blue tick’?

The sheer volume of emails we receive make it challenging to distinguish legitimate messages from phishing attempts. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 347 billion emails are sent daily, and banking scams alone cost people a whopping $10 billion in 2023. Traditional email security simply isn’t enough. (Source.)

Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs/ a ‘Blue tick’) are designed to stop Phishing in its tracks and act like digital passports, verifying the sender’s identity and displaying their logo – a trusted visual cue – right alongside the email address.

With VMCs, finance companies can create a secure, trustworthy email communication channel with their customers. According to issuer Verimarkcert.com, this increased trust builds stronger relationships, enhances brand reputation and ultimately empowers customers to manage their finances with confidence.

We need to do better

Jovan and Jamie Jermain are known for building finance products that help Kiwis go faster, be more cost-effective and save time. Emerge is a digital-first banking alternative for Kiwi businesses with handy features that challenge more traditional offerings including the ability to open an account in minutes; virtual cards for instant use; and awesome customer service. SquareOne is a pocketmoney app offering an independent money solution aimed at empowering and educating children.

“Unfortunately, legacy tech prevents some of the bigger players from innovating around security,” comments Jovan.

They built Emerge to address what they call a “broken landscape” in the market for business accounts; and says that fixing the state of the industry’s security offering is part and parcel of innovating in this space. Alongside what the founders hope is the industry’s simplest offering (no branch visit and no paperwork), Emerge is building a suite of security offerings that have been integrated into its platform including a fully digitised anti-money laundering process.

In line with this, SquareOne was the first to issue bank cards for children without card number embossing and cvs codes. “As founders with children; we understood that kids lose things! This was a no-brainer. It’s something that’s been possible for years, but simply hasn’t been activated,” adds Jovan.

“The industry is ripe for change; with systems, processes and procedures that haven’t changed in decades. This is just the start and the first of many step-changes in providing a more secure financial product for our customers. We’re proud to be leading the way in offering customers the protection they deserve,” concludes Jovan.

For more visit www.emerge.nz or https://getsquareone.app/