CWES chief praises the big four banks for taking initiative
The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES) has applauded the move of another of Australia’s big four banks in addressing financial abuse in its terms and conditions.
In a news release, the CWES said that ANZ Bank presented its new terms and conditions on digital transaction and savings products they offer, noting that financial abuse is unacceptable conduct and that people who inflict such an abuse through their product may be warned or exited from the bank.
This follows the announcements of NAB, Westpac, and the Commonwealth Bank of changing their terms and conditions on a range of products to address financial abuse. This is in response to the CWES’ recommendations in their report titled Designed to Disrupt, which called on banks to redesign their products to improve financial safety.
“All four of Australia’s big banks have now adopted the recommendation to change Terms and Conditions,” said Rebecca Glenn (pictured), CEO of CWES. “This is a significant step in the right direction to explicitly challenge financially abusive behaviour.
“Any action banks can take to mitigate harm experienced by victim-survivors of financial abuse and make it harder for perpetrators to misuse products, is welcome news.”
Banking industry called on to take action
The author of the Designed to Disrupt report and adjunct associate professor at UNSW School of Social Sciences, Catherine Fitzpatrick, said the announcement could help to discourage financial abuse as well as push other banks to make similar moves.
“Customers of Australia’s major banks are now on notice that misusing their products and services as a tactic of coercive control is unacceptable,” said Fitzpatrick. “I’d encourage everyone to read the fine print of their bank accounts and ask their bank what they are doing to protect victim-survivors of financial abuse and to put perpetrators on notice. If all Australian banks followed the lead of the big four, it would send a clear message to the community that it’s not okay to control people through their access to money.”
Micaela Cronin, domestic, family and sexual violence commissioner, welcomed the announcement.
“These are practical changes that will make a meaningful difference for people escaping violence,” she said. “The four banks have shown real community leadership in recognising that the systems we build can be weaponised, and being proactive in redesigning those systems to prevent harm.”
Financial Counselling Australia CEO Fiona Guthrie praised the big four banks for stepping up to address financial abuse. She called on the other banks to follow suit, echoing the thoughts of the CMES.
“We now call on the rest of the banking industry to make the same changes. It is never acceptable for people to use the banking system to perpetrate financial abuse. Sending someone an abusive message through a banking transaction is not a benign act. It is a deliberate strategy by the sender, often designed to harass, threaten or incite fear in the recipient,” said Guthrie.
“Changing the terms and conditions to be clear that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable is an important step in reducing family violence. But safety by design is an all encompassing approach. The next stage is for the banking industry to look at all of their products using a safety lens aiming to reduce, and if possible, prevent financial abuse.”
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