Australia’s big four banks will be called on to repay people who lose money through bank scams when they appear before a parliamentary inquiry this week.
Representatives of NAB, CBA, ANZ and Westpac will front parliament today and tomorrow over the heavy impact scammers are having on Australians.
Bennelong MP Jerome Laxale told Ben Fordham Live on 2GB that in most cases, the banks were aware of the fraud methods.
“I’ll be asking all the banks why they’re not doing more to help Aussies who fall victim to scams,” he told the show.
In the UK, banks will soon be compelled to repay money stolen through bank scams – but they’ve been doing it voluntarily since 2019, Laxale said.
The Labor MP claimed similar legislation was in the pipeline from the Albanese government, but said Australian banks could choose to do the same from “next week” if they chose.
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“I have no understanding why the banks in Australia aren’t doing it,” he said.
Laxale claimed more than 66 per cent of scammed money was refunded compared to about two per cent in Australia.
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Collectively the big four banks are only stopping 13 per cent of payments going out to scammers.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said “more work needs to be done” to help protect customers from scammers.
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