Bendigo Bank delivers on Scam-Safe Accord commitments

One year on from the launch of the Australian Banking Association’s Scam-Safe Accord on 24 November 2023, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has delivered on all initiatives to protect its 2.5 million customers from scams and is already seeing results, with total losses from scams and fraud down 34% year on year. 

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s Head of Customer and Threat Protection, Jason Gordon, is proud of the Bank’s progress and improvement, today announcing delivery of key commitments in the priority areas of Disrupt, Detect and Respond – many ahead of committed timeframes and beyond the initial scope.

"Bendigo Bank has worked hard to deliver on the Scam-Safe Accord priorities, and more, and our customers are now amongst the safest in Australia," Mr Gordon said.

"Delivery of these key initiatives, amongst others, furthers the protections in place to help prevent and limit our customers’ financial loss at the hands of criminals," he said.

Australians lost more than $2.74 billion to scams in 2023, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre – down from   $3 billion in 2022 – thanks in part to the continued effort and investment in scam prevention and protection by banks such as Bendigo Bank and Up. Last financial year, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank stopped $34.4 million in fraudulent transactions.

"This anniversary is an important milestone, but the work doesn’t stop here," Mr Gordon said.

"We will continue to work with the Australian Banking Association and other financial institutions in a whole of ecosystem approach that brings together industry, government, regulators, law enforcement, telcos, and global internet platforms to fight scammers," he said.

Scam-Safe Accord initiatives delivered by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank

Implement an anti-scams strategy to enhance oversight of the bank’s scams detection and response

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s Anti-Scam Strategy is being implemented, protecting customers and safeguarding systems with a variety of cyber-crime prevention methods. Beyond the Scam-Safe Accord initiatives, the Strategy outlines the Bank’s commitment and delivery of additional protections for customers, including:

• removal of unexpected links from SMS messages
• regular customer alerts about current scams
• information for customers on how to keep their details safe, including the Bank’s face-to-face ‘Banking Safely Online’ education program.

Receive and act on scams intelligence across the banking sector

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank works closely with Australian cybersecurity agencies, intelligence, and technology partners to detect any malicious or abnormal behaviour. A member of the AFCX and FRX, the Bank was part of the first National Anti-Scam Centre investment scam fusion cell.

Confirmation of payee solution to customers  

Ahead of delivery of an industry-wide solution to confirmation of payee in 2025, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is working hard to keep customers safe beyond the current regulatory requirements. The Bank was the first to announce a pilot of Commonwealth Bank’s confirmation of payee solution, NameCheck, to further protect Australians from scams and mistaken payments.

The advanced security tool, NameCheck, is now being used to screen all payments made by Bendigo Bank and Up customers whenever they enter the BSB and account number for a new payee. Using the insights from available payment data, NameCheck will give an indication of whether the details provided appear legitimate. In its first month protecting all the Bank's customers, NameCheck detected and stopped more than 36,000 mistaken or scam payments made.

Increased warnings, payment delays and security questions

To introduce appropriate friction to payment transactions, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has implemented warnings within the payment flow in e-banking and requires additional authorisation for payments to new payees via e-banking, with risk-based delays available for some NPP (New Payments Platform) payments.

Limits on high-risk payment channels

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank announced blocking of high-risk cryptocurrency transactions as part of its ongoing efforts to protect its customers from fraud and financial crime in July 2023.

Biometric checks and other controls for new online accounts to prevent account misuse

Bendigo Bank customers can opt-in for facial or fingerprint recognition and multi-factor authentication to verify login credentials online as an additional layer of defence to their accounts.

In addition to existing controls, the Bank has put in place a behavioural biometrics account opening capability that is designed to manage the risk of misuse of accounts opened online. Additionally, Up has put in place a requirement for photographic evidence (self-taken photo) on a risk basis for online account opening.