Big banks fight push for billions of dollars in scam refunds

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In another document, in comments that were later deleted by ASIC, the banks claimed to “already help customers in various ways” and said blocking genuine transactions “is a highly sensitive issue that can lead to challenging interactions for frontline staff”.

The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has consistently stressed the need for greater personal responsibility in preventing scam losses, which has led some groups to accuse it of “victim blaming”. In one email to ASIC from September last year, the ABA cited “timing and cost” as the main reason for opposing the CoP mechanism while promoting greater consumer education.

An ABA spokesman said Australia is “world leading” in online payments security and pointed to existing initiatives including PayID, adding the association would continue to work closely with regulators and the government to develop improvements.

In the documents, the banking industry also…