A month after NAB updated its terms and conditions to give staff authority to cut off customers identified as committing financial abuse, Westpac is taking similar action.
Westpac head of customer excellence Tiffiny Lewin said in a statement yesterday that the terms and conditions of transaction and savings products are being changed to implement a zero tolerance policy for customers who use the banks products and services to engage in financial abuse.
The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety has welcomed these moves. In a report earlier this year it said none of the 20 banks it reviewed made any reference to financial abuse in their terms and conditions.
The report’s author, University of New South Wales adjunct professor Catherine Fitzpatrick, said: “If every bank in Australia made it clear there is a minimum expectation of respect for women to be a customer, it would be a game changer.”
Commonwealth Bank has flagged that it will make similar changes to its terms and conditions.
Lewin said other action the bank was taking to combat financial abuse included embedding “safety by design” principles into its products, which are informed by the work of the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety and the eSafety Commissioner, and running customer safety training for staff involved in product development.
In another development, Westpac customers are prevented from sending inappropriate language in payment descriptions. Customers can report any abuse they receive via online or mobile banking.