CBA introduced NameCheck to customers on the CommBank App and NetBank in March this year and is now gradually extending the offering to business customers using the CommBiz platform, along with other companies and payment processors
Commonwealth Bank branch office, Sydney. (Credit: Maksym Kozlenko/Wikipedia)
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is set to provide its NameCheck technology to the government and other organisations providing financial services to fight scams and fraud in Australia.
In March this year, CBA introduced NameCheck to customers on the CommBank App and NetBank to help reduce false billing scams and wrong payments.
NameCheck has helped more than 11,000 customers, saving over $11m in mistaken payments since its launch, said the Australian lender.
CBA is now gradually extending the offering to business customers using the CommBiz platform, with plans to include other companies and payment processors later this year.
The other companies with proper controls, monitoring, and oversight can benefit from its payment capabilities through a secure API, said CBA.
CommBank group fraud general manager 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.”
“We believe that a national ecosystem response with involvement from business, government and the community is needed to holistically address scams and fraud.”
NameCheck technology helps customers make their first-time payment, by indicating whether the account name entered by the customer matches a BSB and account number.
The expansion of NameCheck follows the bank’s launch of a related anti-scams service, dubbed CallerCheck and the pilot partnership with Telstra, against phone scammers in real-time.
CBA claimed that it is a founding partner of the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange and has supported the establishment of the Federal Government’s new National Anti-Scams Centre.
In addition, the bank supported the SMS sender ID registry, along with additional funding to take down phishing websites and other sites that promote investment scams.
Roberts added: “By making NameCheck available outside of CBA, we are strengthening the ability of the payments ecosystem in preventing financial loss.
“We are committed to doing 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.”