NameCheck anti-fraud technology to be offered to government, financial services firms as CommBiz customers get use of new service from now.
Commonwealth Bank plans to offer its NameCheck anti-scams technology “to government organizations and other financial service companies that process payments in Australia as part of a broader national approach to combat scams and fraud amongst the Australian community.”
NameCheck, an Australian banking first which “helps reduce false billing scams as well as mistaken payments, was launched to CBA customers on the CommBank App and NetBank in March this year.”
Since 31 March 2023, NameCheck has “helped over 11,000 CBA customers, saving over $11m in mistaken payments.”
The service is “being gradually extended to business customers who use the CommBiz platform starting from today while CBA also announced it plans to offer NameCheck to other companies and payment processors later this year.”
Other organizations “with appropriate controls, monitoring, and oversight will be able to benefit from CBA’s payment capabilities through a secure API.”
New scam detection, prevention and education initiatives to keep more customers safe
NameCheck reportedly “applies advanced technology to support a customer making a first time payment.” It provides a customer “with an indication of whether the account name entered by the customer matches a BSB and account number.”
General Manager of Group Fraud at CommBank, James Roberts said:
“We have commenced discussions with government bodies and other financial institutions and we look forward to extending our technology to other trusted organisations to help prevent scams and fraud.”
As noted in the update:
“We believe that a national ecosystem response with involvement from business, government and the community is needed to holistically address scams and fraud. By making NameCheck available outside of CBA, we are strengthening the ability of the payments ecosystem in preventing financial loss.”
Mr Roberts added:
“We are committed to do everything we can to protect not only our customers, but the wider community, from the financial losses and emotional distress associated with scams and fraud.”
The expansion of NameCheck follows CBA’s “launch of its accompanying anti-scams service CallerCheck and the piloting of a partnership with Telstra to protect customers of both companies from phone scammers in real-time.”
CBA is also “a founding partner of the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange and has welcomed the establishment of the Federal Government’s new National Anti-Scams Centre, the SMS sender ID registry as well as additional funding to take down phishing websites and other sites that promote investment scams.”
As mentioned in the announcement, Commonwealth Bank claims it “is Australia’s leading business bank, supporting Australians to start, run and grow their business for over a century.”
With more than one million small, medium and commercial businesses across the country, Commonwealth Bank “brings together the leading technology, products and lending solutions to meet the needs of today’s businesses.”