Emerge Becomes NZ’s First Fintech To Send Emails With The ‘Blue Tick’

How big banks protect their customers from fraudulent account activity is big news; with a widening between customer expectations around fraud protection; and the protections finance platforms actually have in place. As of last week, Emerge and SquareOne have become NZ's first fintech/payments providers to become 'Blue tick’ verified' meaning all of their email communications now carry a distinct ‘Blue tick’. The announcement comes amidst an increase in scam activity following the CrowdStrike outage.

“Although overseas finance companies are adopting the ‘Blue tick’ with increasing urgency, New Zealand has been characteristically slow on the uptake,” believes Co-Founder of Emerge and SquareOne Jovan Pavlicevic. He believes that 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," says Jovan.

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.)

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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.

A reputation for innovation

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.

About Emerge

Emerge is a digital-first banking alternative, built to allow Kiwi businesses to go faster, be more cost-effective, and save time.

Combining cutting-edge technology with the best industry practices, Emerge will make managing finances for business owners, operators and teams a breeze.

It’s one platform. Zero fees. All your business finances. Done better.

About SquareOne

SquareOne is a first-of-its-kind in New Zealand app + card + account for kids to manage their own money. It’s everything kids need to learn healthy finance habits and be GREAT with money.

The app is an easy and effective way to teach money confidence to kids while using REAL money, with COMPLETE parental oversight for peace-of-mind.

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