The initiative aims to reduce scams and mistaken payments
Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (TMBL) has announced a pilot of Commonwealth Bank’s NameCheck technology – a first for the customer-owned banking sector.
The initiative aims to reduce scams and mistaken payments by integrating the security feature into TMBL’s internet banking platform, followed by its banking apps.
The pilot will initially launch within the Teachers Mutual Bank brand’s internet banking services this month. TMBL plans to extend the technology to its other brands, including Health Professionals Bank, Firefighters Mutual Bank, and UniBank, in the coming months.
NameCheck technology alerts customers if the account details they provide appear incorrect. According to Commonwealth Bank (CBA), this tool has already prevented over $200 million in scams and payment errors between March and December 2023.
“While it’s great to see losses are falling across the board, the threat of scams continues to be high, and we continue to work hard to help Australians stay safe,” said Alison Chang, CBA’s general manager of payments. “We’re excited to extend our NameCheck technology to other trusted organisations, including mutual banks and look forward to having a customer-owned bank on board.
“Offering NameCheck externally is part of our efforts to help Australian businesses become more resilient against the threat of scams.”
Anthony Hughes (pictured above), chief executive of Teachers Mutual Bank, believes his bank’s participation in the pilot would offer positive benefits for customers by helping to reduce mistaken payments.
“By participating in this pilot, we’ve fast-tracked our ability to roll out advanced scam prevention technology to our customers. In fact, we’re the first customer-owned bank to implement a security feature to indicate if account details look right,” Hughes said.
“This collaboration is a significant step towards the banking industry helping protect customers against scammers, mistaken payments, and fraudulent activity. By working collaboratively across the industry we can quickly deliver and achieve great outcomes for our customers.”
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