Westpac Group’s Post

Australians are losing less money to scammers, in contrast to global peers including the UK and US where losses continue to rise, according to a report by BDO in Australia commissioned by Westpac. The report shows that a collaborative effort across government, the banking sector and telcos to bolster customer protection is paying dividends, said Carolyn McCann, Westpac Group Executive, Customer and Corporate Services. #scams #fraudprevention Full story: https://lnkd.in/gP6vZqxk

AUSTRALIA REDUCES SCAM LOSSES Here is a good report showing success in Australia in reducing scam losses. One reason is the voluntary Australian Banking Association’s Scam-Safe Accord.

What a surprise! Australian bank funded research concludes: 1) Aussie banks are great at scam prevention😉 2) Scams are everyone else’s fault 🙄 3) Refunding victims isn’t the answer (please don’t ask us to refund victims 😬) I’m just not buying it and neither should you. Why? The reality is that Aussie banks created the online ability for customers to send huge sums of money instantly from the comfort of their own homes. The payment processes were designed with low friction. There were no scam controls Most of customers never needed a $100,000 daily payment limit, but they got one all the same. As a result, an awful lot of scam exposure was handed to innocent Australians who knew nothing about the risks. And here we are - huge loses for Australian victims of scams but very low refund rates. The Australian banks are running these PR campaigns to distract from the liability conversation, hoping nobody notices. The tell? They are pedalling away furiously in the background investing in the scam controls they should’ve had years ago. Unless the Australian media properly scrutinises bank scam liability, these cannie Aussie bankers might just get away with it. Whilst UK banks are criticised (once again) in this Westpac article, there’s a lot to learn from the UK model. The UK liability model created the business case for scam defence investment. Prior to this, UK bank fraud teams had struggled to get the backing of their firms to tackle scams. The CRM refund code changed all that. This resulted in some excellent (world-leading) scam defence initiatives that are now being sold into Australia and elsewhere. I’m writing a blog about this, which I’ll post shortly. In the meantime, cast a wary eye over the Australian banking PR machine. All is not what it seems. My advice to Australian banks (something the UK learned long ago): Do more to prevent scams and refund more victims It’s fair to point at telco and social media asking them to do more, but it was the banks that enabled online banking and used sms messages to/from their customers. The scammers simply exploited this. It’s time to invest in better controls. This starts and ends with banks.

💥 Westpac faces an outage and CBA clients suffer double charges! This banking disruption has left many Australians without access to their funds. Stay informed about how these glitches affect customers and what steps are being taken. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gJ3872cf #BankingOutage #WestpacDisruption #CBACharges #FinancialGlitch #CustomerSupport #BankingIssues

Some of Australia's biggest banks, including the usual suspects ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, have proven once again they'll do anything to maximise profits – and that includes ripping off their own customers. These three banks, as well as the Bendigo Bank and Adelaide Bank, will be forced to refund more than $28 million dollars to 136,000 vulnerable customers following an investigation where the corporate regulator unearthed systemic high-fee charging. These banks will also need to move 200,000 customers into lower-fee accounts, which will cost them another $10.7 million in annual fees. This is especially egregious at a time when we know big business price gouging is driving up inflation and worsening the cost-of-living crisis for everyday Australians. It comes six years after the Hayne banking royal commission unearthed serious misconduct on the part of Australia's banks, who used various tactics to price gouge , including charging unfairly high fees to vulnerable customers.

Change is in the air - as two major banks have announced changes to their head of broker channel in the past two days! ICYMI: Commonwealth Bank has announced that Baber Zaka will become the head of its third-party channel while Westpac has promoted Sarah Willsallen to lead its broker offering. You can read more about the new appointments on The Adviser Magazine here: CBA appointment: https://lnkd.in/gCznEDzn Westpac appointment: https://lnkd.in/gg-TDsQm

The Commonwealth Bank’s $3 Fee Drama Let’s talk about greed disguised as “policy changes.” In December 2024, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (#CBA) announced plans to charge a $3 fee for cash withdrawals at branches, targeting customers moved from Complete Access accounts to Smart Access accounts. The fee was set to take effect in January 2025, but after massive public and political backlash, the bank has paused this move—though only temporarily—claiming they’ll “spend six months working with customers to find solutions.” Here’s the thing: Every year, banks like #CBA report record-breaking profits in the billions. And where does this money come from? Not from innovation or better services—but from squeezing everyday Aussies with ridiculous fees and questionable policies. This isn’t about miscommunication, as the bank claims. It’s about milking more money out of customers during a cost-of-living crisis, when people are already struggling to make ends meet. How can a multi-billion-dollar institution justify this kind of penny-pinching? And don’t be fooled by their so-called six-month pause. It’s likely just a PR tactic to diffuse public outrage and quietly implement something similar down the track. At what point do we stop letting banks profit off our struggles???? Do you agree that banks like CBA have lost touch with the people they serve? Or is this just “business as usual” in a broken system?

From Coffs Harbour to Bendigo, Westpac business lending data shows that parts of regional Australia are booming. Despite economic headwinds, business credit in regional areas is growing fast, with Westpac reporting a 12.4% increase over the past two years. 📈 “As we’re seeing more Australians move from capital cities to regional areas in search of more affordable housing and lifestyle factors, businesses are following suit,” says Shane Howell, Westpac's GM of Commercial Banking. Discover why regional centres like Launceston, Mackay and the Gold Coast are the new business hotspots - click to read more https://lnkd.in/gmMEXCNq #RegionalAustralia #SME #BusinessBanking

#Westpac #BankingRates #ANZ #SavingsTips Hey there, fellow users! 🌟 I’m curious if anyone has managed to convince Westpac to match the current 1-year interest rates from ANZ, ASB, or maybe even a few other banks. Right now, I’m seeing ANZ offering a rate of 5.59%, while Westpac is sticking to their guns with a rate of 6.19%. 😤 Here’s where it gets tricky: Bank loyalty vs. effort: I’d really prefer not to deal with the hassle of switching banks. Who has the time for all that paperwork? 🙄 But a 0.6% difference in rates feels like I’m leaving serious money on the table! The pain of feeling stuck: I’d maybe accept a smaller 0.2% variance, but right now, this feels like a frustrating game of “catch me if you can”. It leaves me wondering: why is there such a big gap in rates between banks? 🤔 It’s not just about loyalty; it’s all about maximizing our savings. Possible solutions? Rate negotiation: Have you had any luck negotiating a better rate with Westpac? It’d be great to hear some... Can Westpac Truly Match ANZ's 5.59% Rate Without Switching Banks? Answers: https://lnkd.in/gb-JBjKf

Are bank branches important or not? Westpac has announced a moratorium on further regional bank branch closures until 2027. Westpac's Jason Yetton has posted a YouTube video where he highlights the importance of face-to-face service, cash and bank branches to towns and rural communities. Which is kinda weird because Westpac has closed at least 195 branches outside the capital cities in recent years. "When I talk to people in regional Australia the most important thing they say is they want us to stay, that's because they need banking services," says Jason Yetton, Westpac's Chief Executive of Consumer Division. "That does take the form of digital services but for a lot of them, face-to-face is really important. "So they want us to stay. They know their bankers, the bankers are part of their communities, it's an important part of us helping them to prosper and grow in the future." https://lnkd.in/gNrgygij