Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Scott Simpson: Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs on new protections requiring banks to reimburse fraud victims up to $500,000

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Scott Simpson: Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs on new protections requiring banks to reimburse fraud victims up to $500,000 · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Banks will be required to reimburse fraud victims up to
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: half a million dollars under the new scam protections. The
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: suite of measures also includes providing a twenty four to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: seven scam reporting channel and banks during information on scammers
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: with each other to help prevent criminal activity. The changes
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: will be delivered through an update to the Code of
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Banking Practice. Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Scott Simpson
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  Speaker 1: joins me. Now, thanks for your time, Scott, good morning.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Good morning Francesco.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Okay, how involved were you in creating these protections.
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  Speaker 2: Well, our government's been urging banks take a greater responsibility
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  Speaker 2: for protecting their customers for some time. So I'm the
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: government's lead on anti scams as Minister, and it's work
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  Speaker 2: that I and my predecessor have been doing now for
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  Speaker 2: well since this government came to office.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Who is eligible for compensation if a bank fails to
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: meet these new protection commitments.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Well, bank customers that meet certain criteria. And this is
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: not a regime that it's going to mean that everybody
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: body is covered, but it will mean, for instance, that
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  Speaker 2: if you take responsibility for your online transactions, your banking
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  Speaker 2: transactions in a way that is careful, prudent and responsible.
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  Speaker 2: The banks will cover you if they have let you
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  Speaker 2: down as their banking provider if you've been scammed.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: How effective has the confirmation of paye system been already
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: because that the rollout of that's already been completed. And
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: I was just making the comment there that you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's not working at the moment because businesses aren't aware
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  Speaker 1: that they need to give the account owner's name and
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: then a nickname. So every time I do it, it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't match up. Scott.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Ironically, Francesca, every time you use it, it gets better
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  Speaker 2: because it's exactly those sorts of things. So over a
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: period of time, for instance, if someone wants to send
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: me some money as Scott Simpson, or maybe my bank
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: account is s Simpson, that isn't a complete match. But
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  Speaker 2: over time the banks get better at it. Now not
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: every bank is speed with it completely yet that's part
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: of the reason why these new initiatives don't come fully
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  Speaker 2: into effect until the end of November. It's in order
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  Speaker 2: to allow banks time to get the processes and the
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  Speaker 2: technology in place to have it up and running completely.
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  Speaker 1: And to be fair, Scott, that's a user issue, not
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  Speaker 1: necessarily the system issue. It's just us getting used to it,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it. You know? Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Look having a
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  Speaker 1: look at the list of these measures, I mean, banks
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  Speaker 1: are already doing some of these things, aren't they. They're
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  Speaker 1: already sort of you know, shutting down if they see
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: a dodgy looking transaction and things. So putting these measures
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  Speaker 1: officially in place, is it actually more about allowing customers
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: to hold banks to account.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, it will hold banks to account. But remember, in
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  Speaker 2: the scam ecosystem, banks aren't the only player. There are
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  Speaker 2: digital platform form providers who are the providers that allow
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  Speaker 2: the scam sometimes to work. There are the telco companies
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: that allows messages to be sent over their networks. So
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  Speaker 2: I want the other players in the scam ecosystem to
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  Speaker 2: step up in the same way that banks have done.
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  Speaker 2: Thet a role to play as well, and I'm hoping
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  Speaker 2: that we can get a similar set of protocols from
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  Speaker 2: the talco companies in the digital platform providers as well.
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  Speaker 1: So you're happy with what the banks have come up
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  Speaker 1: with here or would you like them to continue sort
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  Speaker 1: of moving forward in the space.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Well, this isn't a silver bullet. Scams are very prevalent
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  Speaker 2: scammers are very clever, they're very persistent, they're very energetic.
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  Speaker 2: So this isn't going to stop all scams, but it
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  Speaker 2: is a very big step forward. I'm delighted that the
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: banks have taken this initiative in conjunction government. It's a
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: very good step. I want others to do the same
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  Speaker 2: sort of thing, but it just means that people still
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  Speaker 2: have to be careful, they still have to be prudent,
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  Speaker 2: and they still have to be alert and aware of
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  Speaker 2: what they're doing in terms of their banking transactions and
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  Speaker 2: their digital interactions and the interactions they with the telco
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  Speaker 2: companies as well.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Scott, thanks so much for your time this morning. That
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: was the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. For more
• 4:07
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