Can We Trust Our Banks To Keep Our Money Safe?

When you put your money into the bank, you’d like to think it’s in the safest hands possible. The bank is an institution which acts in a professional and informed manner. Even if something goes wrong, your money will be safe.

At least, that’s what we tell ourselves. But, a look at the facts suggests that may not be the case. Even skimming the surface of issues our banks open us to can leave us on edge. What’s more, most banks have a very effective way to practice spoken English which makes it near enough impossible to call them out, or get compensation. They’re fantastic at reeling off speeches without taking responsibility at all.

For proof, let’s look back to 2014 when a Commonwealth Banking scandal lost its customers millions. Banking boss Ian Narev was fast to apologise with a clever and thought through speech. But, does that undo the damage to those who trusted him? Of course not.

But, that was a long time ago. So, why does that story matter now? Well, Tuesday 13th of February saw the launch of a New Payment Platform, which promises fast-track payments for bank customers across Australia. This method, already in place across the UK, promises to save us the standard three-day transfer period. Instead, we’ll have the choice to transfer money in real-time, whenever we need to.

Sounds good, right? Of course, it does. But, the plan has come under a fair amount of scrutiny before its release. For one, mixed results in the UK have put some of us on edge. In fact, many are questioning whether banks really have our best interests at heart with this plan. After all, they’ve made no secret that this is going to save them money in the long-run. Yet, fraud experts like Albert Van Wyk have warned of increased fraudulent activity under this system.

A look back to 2008, when the plan was implemented in the UK, suggests a solid foundation for such fears. In fact, while Australian banks have steered clear of the subject, online banking fraud spiked by a whopping 132% in the UK. If we see a repeat, this will only widen the gap between banks and customers, instead of closing it as intended. What’s more, this will once again throw into question whether banks have our best interests at heart. Surely, safety should come above convenient banking?

Mr Lovney of ANZ has explained these worries away, saying: 'With any new system that is introduced, you will see a spike in activity as people think about how they can take advantage of the change, but banks will continue to put in place systems behind the scenes to try to protect customers from being tricked.’. When large amounts of our money are concerned, that’s hardly news we want to hear. But, we have yet to see whether this is merely another case of clever wording to wiggle out of a fix, or whether the plan will actually make our lives easier.