Commonwealth Bank is rolling out new features for its widely used banking apps “aimed at combating the plague of scammers ripping off Australians.”
From late March, the app will “indicate whether the name and account details customers have entered are correct when they make payments using a BSB and account number.”
Group Executive for retail banking Angus Sullivan said:
“When they transfer money online many people assume the intended recipient’s account name is checked as well as the BSB and account number but in most cases, this is not possible. We now have the data and technology to improve this.”
The “NameCheck” feature will be similar “to how a recipient’s name pops up before funds are sent using instant Osko transfers to a PayID.”
Mr Sullivan told reporters while there was no “central repository” to serve as a “single source of truth” on how payments to a BSB and account number should be labelled, CBA would “look at how other customers had labelled payments to such accounts.
He added:
“”If it doesn’t seem to match, we’re going to be strongly encouraging customers to double-check. I think this is an enormous step forward for our customers.”
The feature will help “reduce a false billing scam known as business email compromise, as well as mistaken payments,” CBA said.
It will be available on the CommBank app, NetBank and CommBiz.
The bank has also launched an in-app caller verification feature, “CallerCheck”, that allows CBA staff “to trigger a notification on a customer’s banking app verifying that the call is actually from CBA.”
The feature also “lets a customer login and prove their identity in-app, removing the need to provide personal information over the phone.”
Mr Sullivan said:
“We know there are lots of cost of living pressures out there at the moment and the last thing we want is anybody giving away money to scammers. We know this can be a significant issue in the community. We’re hearing that loud and clear.”
One in four Australians believes scammers “contact them at least six times a week, according to CBA, whose banking app is used by six million people nationally.”