Joint Everyday accounts

A Joint Everyday account is an Emerge account shared and owned equally by two people.

You both have access to the same balance and transaction history, can make payments and transfers, and can each have your own cards linked to the account. They’re useful for things like household expenses, shared bills, managing money with a partner or family member, or simply keeping shared spending in one place.

To create or join a Joint Everyday account, you need to:

Both people need to meet these requirements before the joint account can be opened.

If the person you want to share an account with isn’t already on Emerge, that’s fine. You can invite them and we’ll help them get set up.

You won’t be able to create or join a Joint Everyday account if you:

There may also be circumstances where we’re unable to offer a joint account for security, fraud prevention, compliance or other regulatory reasons.

If someone you invite can’t complete the process, we’ll let you know that the Joint Everyday account wasn’t opened. We won’t share private information about why the other person wasn’t able to continue.

A Joint Everyday account gives another person equal access to the money held in that account.

Only open one with someone you genuinely know and trust. Be particularly careful if someone:

These can be warning signs of scams, fraud, money mule activity or money laundering.

Remember that activity through a joint account is connected to both account holders. You should understand where money is coming from and what the account is being used for.

If something doesn’t feel right, contact the Emerge team before moving any money.

You can create a Joint Everyday account from your Emerge Personal profile.

During setup, we’ll ask you for some information about the person you’re opening the account with and how you plan to use it.

You’ll also choose a name for the account.

Once you’ve completed the setup, we’ll send the other person an invitation.

The account won’t open until they’ve reviewed and accepted the invitation.

Joint account invitations are valid for 7 days. If the invitation isn’t accepted within that time, it will expire.

You can send a new invitation if you still want to open the account together.

If they’re already on Emerge and fully set up, they can review the invitation in the app.

If they still need to complete part of their Emerge setup or identity verification, we’ll take them through those steps before they can accept.

If they’re not on Emerge yet, we’ll send them an email explaining how to download Emerge, create a Personal account and get set up.

Before accepting, they’ll be able to review who invited them, the account details and important information about how Joint Everyday accounts work.

They can then choose whether to accept or decline.

There are a few reasons you might not be able to send someone a Joint Everyday account invitation.

For example, they may not currently meet the requirements for a joint account, or a cool-down period may apply if you’ve recently invited them.

Cool-down periods help prevent repeated or unwanted invitations and give both people time to resolve anything that stopped an earlier invitation from being completed.

If you can’t currently invite someone, Emerge will let you know in the app.

Sometimes an invitation can’t be completed. If that happens, we’ll let the person who sent the invitation know that the Joint Everyday account wasn’t opened.

We won’t share private information about why the other person wasn’t able to continue.

The Joint Everyday account opens as soon as the invitation is accepted.

Both people will then be able to access the account from Emerge. You’ll also have access to your:

You can then add money, create your own card and start using the account.

Both people own the Joint Everyday account equally. There isn’t a primary account holder, administrator or person with more control than the other.

You both have the same rights over the account and the money held in it.

Both account holders can:

A Joint Everyday account is shared, so both account holders can see what happens within that account. You can both see things like:

Having a joint account doesn’t give you access to the other person’s wider Emerge profile or private account information.

For example, you can’t see:

Each person manages their own cards.

Each account holder can create and manage their own cards linked to the Joint Everyday account.

Your card is yours to manage. The other account holder can’t see your full card details.

Any spending from the joint account appears in the shared transaction history, so both people can see what was spent and who made the transaction.

Transactions from a Joint Everyday account appear in the account’s shared transaction history.

Where a transaction was made by one of the account holders, we’ll show who made it.

You can see this in the transaction list and by opening an individual transaction to view its details.

Yes.

Every Joint Everyday account has its own New Zealand account number.

You can use it to receive payments just like your other Emerge accounts.

When someone pays your Joint Everyday account, Confirmation of Payee can check the name they enter against the account details.

The account can be confirmed using either account holder’s full name, as well as the supported joint-name format for the account.

You can also find a Proof of Account inside Emerge if you need to provide confirmation of your account details.

Yes.

You can use your Joint Everyday account for direct debits and other regular payments.

Both account holders can see activity from the account.

Yes.

Scheduled payments and transfers can be set up from your Joint Everyday account. Both people have visibility of activity from the shared account.

No.

A Joint Everyday account is an Everyday account designed for spending and managing shared money.

It doesn’t earn interest.

Yes.

You can open multiple Joint Everyday accounts with the same person. For example, you might have one account for household bills and another for shared everyday spending.

Each account is separate and has its own balance, account number, cards and transaction history.

Yes.

You can also have Joint Everyday accounts with different people, provided everyone meets the eligibility requirements.

For example, you could have one account with your partner and another with a family member.

Each joint account is completely separate.

No.

Because the account is jointly owned, one person can’t remove the other account holder and take sole ownership.

If you no longer want to share the account, it needs to go through the joint account closure process.

Both people need to agree before a Joint Everyday account can be closed.

Before requesting closure, the account needs to be ready to close.

This includes bringing the balance down to $0 and resolving anything else shown in Emerge that would prevent the account from closing, such as pending transactions or other outstanding activity.

Once the account is ready, either account holder can request closure. The other person will then be asked to review the request and choose whether to accept or decline it.

While a closure request is waiting to be resolved, the account can no longer be used normally. During this time:

The other account holder can then choose whether to accept or decline the closure request.

The account stays open.

The closure request is cancelled and the Joint Everyday account can return to normal use.

Once both people agree, the Joint Everyday account is closed. Cards linked to the account are cancelled. Your previous statements and account documents will remain available in Emerge.

Your Proof of Account will no longer be available once the account has been closed.

If there’s a disagreement about a Joint Everyday account, contact the Emerge team as soon as possible.

Depending on the situation, we can lock the account while the dispute is being resolved.

This prevents either person from moving money out of the shared account while the issue is being worked through.

Neither account holder can simply remove the other person or take sole control of the account.

If a Joint Everyday account is locked because of a dispute:

Both account holders will be told if the account has been locked.

There are two possible outcomes.

If both account holders resolve the dispute and agree to keep using the account, Emerge can unlock it and return it to normal use.

If the account needs to be closed instead, we may require written instructions agreed and signed by both account holders explaining how any remaining money should be distributed.

Once we have what we need, our team can distribute the funds and close the account. We’ll explain exactly what’s required based on your situation.

Sometimes we may need to restrict accounts while we investigate suspicious activity, protect our customers or meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

If an account holder’s Emerge accounts are frozen because of suspicious activity, Joint Everyday accounts connected to that person may also be frozen.

This means the other joint account holder may temporarily lose access to the shared account, even if the activity we’re looking into doesn’t relate to something they personally did.

We understand that this can be disruptive, but because both people have access to the same funds, we may need to restrict the joint account while we investigate.

We may not always be able to explain why an account has been restricted or provide information about activity relating to another account holder.

Once we’re able to remove the restriction, we’ll restore access to the joint account where appropriate.

Open your Joint Everyday account in Emerge and head to Manage. From there, you can access things like:

Some options may change depending on the status of your account.

Your historical statements remain available in Emerge after the account has been closed.

Your Proof of Account is only available while the account is open.

Open your Joint Everyday account and head to Manage → Help and Information to contact the Emerge team.

If you’re worried about a disagreement between account holders, possible fraud, someone you don’t recognise or the safety of money in the account, contact us as soon as possible.

A Joint Everyday account gives another person equal access to the money held in that account.

Only open one with someone you genuinely know and trust.

Be particularly cautious if someone you’ve only recently met, or have never met in person, asks you to open an account together, receive money for them, move money on their behalf or take part in an investment opportunity.

If something doesn’t feel right, contact the Emerge team before going any further.