Bankwest app feature helps users spot fradulent transactions

Bankwest has launched a new feature to its mobile app offered by Look Who’s Charging,an Experian company, to help customers quickly spot possible fraudulent transactions.

“Fraudulent and scam related activity can increase over the festive period,” a Bankwest spokesperson told CIO Australia. “Keeping customer accounts safe is of course a Bankwest priority. Bankwest has dedicated teams working 24/7, actively monitoring unusual or suspicious activity. Likewise, as fraud patterns are continually evolving, we constantly review and update our monitoring processes.”

To avoid confusion when a customer cannot remember or do not recognise a transaction, Bankwest developed the new service by allowing customers to, with one touch, display further details on banking transactions about both debit and credit card transactions.

The information can include a business trading name, services it provides, both the payment and the date it was processed separately and if a PIN was used. It also allows customers to double check the location of that business taking them to another screen with its location on a map, address and business detailed description.

Bankwest executive general manager for technology and transformation Andy Weir said the service is a result of “customer feedback” as many have described one of their main sources of frustration and stress is when they have to dispute a transaction.

“With this new service the customer will be able to see enough detail to alleviate any concern they may have,” Weir said.

Bankwest expects the feature to decrease the number of customers calling the bank to query transactions.

A subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bankwest has been developing new tools and features to create a “frictionless” banking experience to customers. In January 2018, it launched Halo, the ‘tap and go’ ring that works as a contactless payment card.

A year later, it revealed to have sold the $39 wearable device to 15,000of its 1.1 million customers.

During the CIO Summit in Perth in 2018, Weir said the bank was not embarking on a digital transformation to be cool or trendy but it saw it as “absolutely about survival” in an increasingly digital environment.