CBA and Telstra 'scam indicator' feature officially switched on

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has officially switched on its ‘scam indicator’, developed in partnership with Quantium Telstra.

The bank launched 'scam indicator' late last week, following an initial proof-of-concept laid out in March and a pilot soon after.

The pilot used algorithms to spot potential scam phone calls in real-time by matching two sets of data to identify when a customer was simultaneously on the phone and attempting to transfer funds, suggesting they may be in the process of being scammed.

The work was developed in partnership with Quantium Telstra, and is aimed at protecting both CBA and Telstra customers.

Telstra’s joint venture with data brokerage and analytics company Quantium, focuses on the deployment of automated and data-led decision-making systems for enterprise customers.

CBA also has its own separate joint venture Quantium, titled CommBank iQ to generate insights to create better customer experiences.

The launch of 'scam indicator' builds on other anti-scam initiatives that CBA has.

The bank's NameCheck feature, for example, is available across the CommBank app, NetBank and CommBiz, and prods users when payment details do not match a known account number.

Alongside NameCheck, CBA also has CallerCheck, which enables CBA staff to send a notification to the customer's banking app to verify they are speaking to a genuine customer representative.

At the time, the bank said the new services build upon CBA’s other data and scam protection strategies including its introduction of behavioural biometrics features launched last year.

The bank also is moving forward with its plans to extend its NameCheck technology to other organisations that process payments, in pursuit of a ‘whole-of-ecosystem’ approach to tackling scams.

According to the bank, new data shows CBA’s NameCheck capability has stopped over 10,000 scam payments which would have totalled in excess of $38 million, since being introduced earlier this year.

Since its first release in March, CBA said the feature has also reduced the incidence of mistaken payments by more than $100 million.

CBA chief executive Matt Comyn provided the update on its scam programs with Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, during the Minister’s visit to CBA's offices in South Eveleigh, Sydney.

Comyn said there’s “a lot of work that needs to be done” and partnerships “with others in the ecosystem are hugely important”.

“Bringing the strength of different players together provides us with a better chance of stopping the scammers,” he said.

“We remain committed to playing our part to address this national priority alongside leading businesses, government, and the broader community.

“Working collaboratively with all sectors is essential and means that we are all able to do better for the Australian community."