A large number of Kiwis hit by a crime wave via their banks, survey shows
New Zealand banks are not doing enough to protect their customers from fraud and theft, with Kiwis experiencing a major crime wave via their banks, according to a Horizon Research Bank Fraud and Cybercrime survey.
The survey of 1,039 New Zealanders found that a significant number of bank customers have fallen victim to fraud and theft via their bank card, credit card, cheque, or other document (13%), bank account (10%), and cybercrime (7%) in the past 12 months.
Of those victims of fraud, 80% lost up to $5,000 and 54% lost up to $500.
The public’s “view of how the banks are protecting them becomes more adverse when they find out that some New Zealand banks are not yet implementing highly-effective anti-fraud and theft measures already being used in Australia,” said Graeme Colman, principal of Horizon Research.
When asked, “Do you think the banks you use in New Zealand are doing enough to protect you from theft, fraud, and deception?” the survey revealed a significant change in people’s opinion on the issue, after they had been told about some anti-fraud initiatives in Australia. See the graph below.
Overall, only 30% believed NZ banks were doing enough to protect their customers from theft, fraud, and deception - a view not shared by 43% of the respondents, who felt they were being let down by their banks.
Once informed about the different initiatives being rolled out in Australia, 69% of the respondents believed their bank should introduce dynamically generated CVC numbers, while 83% wanted their banks to check whether the payee name and the account numbers matched before allowing the payment.
One in two New Zealanders (56%) also said they would not feel upset if their banks were required to go a tad slower on their payments of more than $10,000, to ensure customers were not being scammed.
The survey also found that 73% of Kiwis believed banks should fully compensate scam victims if they should have spotted that the transaction was suspicious.
When asked if banks were doing enough to protect them from cybercrime, only 23% said enough was being done, and a further 47% said not enough was being done, the poll from Horizon Research showed.
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