Bendigo Bank to help even more customers bank safely online

Bendigo Bank has launched a face-to-face education approach to help its 2.4 million customers safely navigate digital banking. Banking Safely Online enables one-on-one connections between the Bank and its customers to help grow digital capability, confidence, and security.

The 30-minute, standardised classes highlight the benefits and importance of getting digitally connected, staying safe and recognising and preventing scams and fraud, and are designed to be delivered by our experienced people at any of Bendigo Bank’s 430 branches direct to their customers and local community groups.

The Bank’s new education approach has been formulated in response to growing community concern around fraud and scams, with Australians losing more than $3 billion to scams in 2022, according to Scamwatch.

Head of Fraud at Bendigo Bank, Jason Gordon, says the sessions will be particularly effective in educating and empowering customers facing a digital divide.

“While most of our customers do their banking online, around 1 in 4 Australians are considered digitally excluded. This digital divide is due to unequal access to digital technology including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the internet,” he said.

“The growing prevalence of financial crime, fraud and scams is quite confronting, even if you don’t face digital barriers.”

“We want all our customers to feel supported and safe online, and these sessions are specifically designed to make new and existing digital banking users comfortable and confident.”

“They highlight the benefits and importance of getting digitally connected, safely, showing how to use digital banking controls to protect from and respond to fraud and scams.”

“As Australia’s most trusted bank, and with the country’s fourth largest branch network, Bendigo Bank is in a unique position to deliver these classes direct to our customers and communities,” Mr Gordon said.

Rotary Clubs, sporting associations, social and community groups can contact their local Bendigo Bank and enquire about a Banking Safely Online education session for their members.

Banking Safely Online was launched to Community Banks on the final day of the 2023 Community Bank National Conference. The three-day event brought together directors and delegates from around Australia and marked the 25th anniversary of the Community Bank model, which is on track to return more than $320 million to local communities.

This approach joins a host of operational measures employed by Bendigo Bank against cyber and financial crime, including:

• multi-factor authentication
• blocking high risk cryptocurrency transactions
• doubling the size of its fraud prevention and response team
• the removal of all links in SMS messages from the Bank
• a dedicated security team constantly monitoring for suspicious activity
• unusual account activity detection.

Bendigo Bank recommends stopping scammers in their tracks by following Scamwatch’s advice:

STOP – Don’t give money or personal information to anyone if unsure.
Scammers will offer to help you or ask you to verify who you are. They will pretend to be from organisations you know and trust like Services Australia, police, government, or a fraud service.

THINK – Ask yourself could the message or call be fake?
Never click a link in a message. Only contact us, businesses or government using contact information from their official website or through their secure apps. If you’re not sure, say no, hang up or delete.

PROTECT – Act quickly if something feels wrong.
If you notice unusual activity or if a scammer gets your money or information, visit bendigobank.com.au/security to report it and get support.