Westpac has teamed with telecommunications provider Optus to develop technology which will see calls via the bank's app come through as Westpac branded and verified by Optus.
The contact will also display a reason for the call on customers' phones.
The new capability is designed to give Westpac customers more certainty they are legitimately being contacted by the bank.
Dubbed 'SafeCall', the new technology will be rolled out over the coming months, also allowing customers to call the bank through the app.
Bank fightback
According to a 2023 ASIC report, big four bank customers lost more than $550 million to scammers in the 2021-2022 financial year, up 50% on the previous year.
ASIC called on banks to do more to protect their customers, noting they had to bear 96% of total scam losses across the four banks.
Westpac CEO Peter King said the new technology is designed to make Australia a harder market for scammers to operate in.
"This will help to provide customers with the confidence and added security to help beat scammers and know that they really are talking to their bank," he said.
Westpac said it's currently detecting 69% of all scams coming through its operations.
It claimed it's stepped in to save customers more than $400 million in scam losses over the past two years.
Bank customers remain scam targets
In recent years, scammers have become increasingly sophisticated, making a call appear to come from a legitimate phone number and texts to appear in the same conversation thread as genuine messages from banks, called spoofing.
Such scams have seen every cent drained from some customer bank accounts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Scamwatch has urged customers to be immediately critical of any alleged correspondence from a bank.
The ACCC said it was important to remember banks won't ask customers to urgently transfer funds.
Impersonation scams accounted for more than 70% of cases reported to Scamwatch last year.
The ACCC said it was encouraging to see a 13% drop in reported scam losses to a total of $2.74 billion dollars in 2023 although it said the figure remains too high.
Advertisement
Need somewhere to store cash and earn interest? The table below features savings accounts with some of the highest interest rates on the market.
Special offer: Savings Accelerator (Kick Starter offer).
For a limited time, new ING customers can get a bonus 0.70% p.a. on their savings rate on balances of $150,000 up to $500,000 for the first 4 months. T&Cs apply.
If your balance is over $500,000 (but less than $5 million) you will earn the ongoing variable rate of 4.7%
FEATURED
Savings Accelerator
Special offer: Savings Accelerator (Kick Starter offer).
For a limited time, new ING customers can get a bonus 0.70% p.a. on their savings rate on balances of $150,000 up to $500,000 for the first 4 months. T&Cs apply.
If your balance is over $500,000 (but less than $5 million) you will earn the ongoing variable rate of 4.7%
All products with a link to a product provider’s website have a commercial marketing relationship between us and these providers. These products may appear prominently and first within the search tables regardless of their attributes and may include products marked as promoted, featured or sponsored. The link to a product provider’s website will allow you to get more information or apply for the product.
By de-selecting “Show online partners only” additional non-commercialised products may be displayed and re-sorted at the top of the table. For more information on how we’ve selected these “Sponsored”, “Featured” and “Promoted” products, the products we compare, how we make money, and other important information about our service, please click here. Rates correct as of September 9, 2024. View disclaimer.
Savings.com.au provides general information and comparison services to help you make informed financial decisions. We do not cover every product or provider in the market. Our service is free to you because we receive compensation from product providers for sponsored placements, advertisements, and referrals. Importantly, these commercial relationships do not influence our editorial integrity.
At Savings.com.au, we are passionate about helping Australians make informed financial decisions. Our dedicated editorial team works tirelessly to provide you with accurate, relevant, and unbiased information. We pride ourselves on maintaining a strict separation between our editorial and commercial teams, ensuring that the content you read is based purely on merit and not influenced by commercial interests.
Learn more about our commitment to editorial integrity in our Editorial Guidelines.
Our service is free for you, thanks to support from our partners through sponsored placements, ads, and referrals. We earn compensation by promoting products, referring you, or when you click on a product link. You might also see ads in emails, sponsored content, or directly on our site.
We strive to cover a broad range of products, providers, and services; however, we do not cover the entire market. Products in our comparison tables are sorted based on various factors, including product features, interest rates, fees, popularity, and commercial arrangements.
Some products will be marked as promoted, featured or sponsored and may appear prominently in the tables regardless of their attributes.
Additionally, certain products may present forms designed to refer you to associated companies (e.g. our mortgage broker partner) who may be able to assist you with products from the brand you selected. We may receive a fee for this referral.
You can customise your search using our sorting and filtering tools to prioritise what matters most to you, although we do not compare all features and some results associated with commercial arrangements may still appear.
For home loans, the base criteria include a $400,000 loan amount over 25 years. For car loans and personal loans, the base criteria include a $30,000 loan over 5 years. These rates are only examples and may not include all fees and charges.
*The Comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Warning: this comparison rate is true only for this example and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate.
Monthly repayment figures are estimates that exclude fees. These estimates are based on the advertised rates for the specified term and loan amount. Actual repayments will depend on your circumstances and interest rate changes.
Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you.
Savings.com.au is proudly part of the InfoChoice Group, which includes InfoChoice.com.au, YourMortgage.com.au, YourInvestmentPropertyMag.com.au, and PerformanceDrive.com.au. The InfoChoice Group is associated with the Firstmac Group.
We may include products and services from loans.com.au, CarLoans.com.au, OnlineAuto.com.au, and YourMortgageBroker Pty Ltd, all associated with the Firstmac Group. Importantly, these brands are treated like any other commercial partner.
The information provided by Savings.com.au is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. We recommend seeking independent financial advice before making any financial decisions. Before acquiring any financial product, obtain and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), Target Market Determination (TMD), and any other offer documents.
Rates and product information should be confirmed with the relevant credit provider. For more information, read Savings.com.au’s Financial Services and Credit Guide (FSCG).