Financial Crime World

Westpac Unveils Groundbreaking Fraud Prevention Feature, SaferPay

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In a major bid to reduce customer scam losses, Westpac has introduced a revolutionary new security feature called SaferPay. This Australian-first innovation uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to alert customers to potential scams through a series of questions presented for new payments deemed to have high scam risk.

Reducing Customer Scam Losses

According to Westpac CEO Peter King, the feature is designed to save customers millions of dollars in scam losses each month. “While our prevention measures have led to a significant drop in customer losses over the last year, fraudsters are still taking millions of dollars from our customers,” King said.

How SaferPay Works

SaferPay works by detecting potential scams through Westpac’s sophisticated fraud detection systems and presenting customers with questions that vary depending on their individual circumstances. If customer responses suggest the payment is highly likely to be a scam, Westpac will not allow the payment to be processed.

  • The feature uses AI to power its fraud detection capabilities
  • It integrates into Westpac’s existing fraud prevention measures
  • Customers are presented with questions to help detect potential scams

Success of Existing Measures

The bank has already saved customers over $400 million from being lost to scammers over the past two years. Additionally, Westpac has invested more than $100 million in new detection and prevention measures, including:

  • Cryptocurrency blocks
  • Enhanced verification capabilities
  • Call spoofing measures
  • Sophisticated detection technology

Availability and Future Plans

Westpac SaferPay will initially be available for payments made through the Westpac mobile banking app, with online banking integration to follow later this year. The feature is part of the bank’s ongoing efforts to combat fraud and protect its customers from scams.

Industry Collaboration and Regulation

The launch of SaferPay comes as the Australian banking industry works together under the Scam Safe Accord to provide better scam protection for customers. However, King emphasized that more needs to be done to tackle the problem of scams, particularly in the digital ecosystem. “We welcome the work underway by the Federal Government on a mandatory industry code that considers a whole-ecosystem approach to effectively tackle this problem,” King said.

According to Westpac’s latest scam insights, customer scam losses are tracking 32% lower in FY24, with total monthly cases down 37%. The top scam types driving losses in 2024 include:

  • Investment scams
  • Business email scams
  • Remote access scams
  • Romance scams
  • Buying & selling scams