Banking giant NAB received more than 850,000 calls last year from customers concerned about scams and online fraud, new data has revealed.
The data, released on Wednesday, paints a stark picture of the challenges Australia’s big four banks face in combating rising rates of online fraud.
According to NAB, about 60 per cent of all calls to the bank’s fraud and scams team in the past year concerned debit and credit card fraud.
NAB group investigations and fraud executive Chris Sheehan said the bank had since bolstered protections for customers using its banking app.
“We’re moving to give customers the choice to report card fraud via NAB messaging, app or internet banking in addition to calling us,” Mr Sheehan said.
“This move gives those customers another simple, secure and safe way to get in contact with one of our fraud experts.”
Mr Sheehan, a former AFP executive, said about 74 per cent of NAB customers exclusively used “digital channels”.
Since real time scam payment alerts were introduced in March 2023, NAB reported that customers had abandoned about $50m in sales.
“While many customers ultimately complete their payment after receiving an alert, we know many are stopping and checking,” he said.
“We’ve seen $50m worth of payments completely abandoned. That’s an average of $220,000 each day.”
Mr Sheenan said the bank had also bolstered its scams team over the past 12 months, reducing wait times from 50 minutes to just 10 minutes.
The revelations come as banks come under unceasing pressure to address online scams and fraud affecting millions of Australian.
Last week, banks announced they would be blocking customers from transferring money to some fraudulent accounts.
The Commonwealth Bank in October revealed it was also expanding its anti-scam technology, including programs to detect scam phone calls.
In August, Westpac also announced it was introducing new digital payment features aimed at combating scam loses.