The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Suncorp Bank, and Westpac have joined BioCatch Trust Australia, a pilot of the world’s first inter-bank, behavior- and device-based, fraud and scams intelligence-sharing network.
BioCatch Trust adds an additional layer of behavioural and device-based protection for the bank’s customers against fraud and scams by assessing in real time the potential risks associated with the accounts to which customers direct their domestic online payments within BioCatch Trust Australia.
If the network identifies risks associated with a receiving account, BioCatch provides this intelligence to the sending bank in real time, allowing the sending institution to review the transaction before any money leaves the sender’s account.
“Fraud and scam payments are nearly always transferred to mule accounts through which the criminal funnels their profits before withdrawing them,” BioCatch CEO Gadi Mazor said. “When the sending and receiving banks involved in these transactions share intelligence to identify potential money mules, it should reduce the number of customers who fall victim to scams and make a substantial dent in the ability of criminals to move their illegally attained money.”
“We know the criminals behind these attacks swap tactics, strategies, intelligence, and technology with other rival cybercriminals,” he said. “We’re proud to now offer Australian banks an opportunity to join their own intelligence-sharing network to fight back.”
BioCatch Trust combines behavioural intelligence with digital session, payment, account, device, and non-monetary event intelligence to assess the potential risks of receiving accounts on the network before an eligible payment is processed.
This helps financial institutions prevent those types of scams where the fraudster manipulates the victim outside of a digital banking session (many scams originate via an email, text message, or social media post). BioCatch Trust accomplishes this while utilising proven pseudonymisation technology to help protect the identities of those customers within the BioCatch Trust network.
“Scams are a widespread issue and a scourge on our community,” said ANZ Head of Customer Protection Shaq Johnson. “BioCatch Trust is another capability we can adopt to help us in the continued fight against scams and fraud.”
“There’s always more we can do to protect Australians from scammers, and joining BioCatch Trust builds on the anti-scam innovations that the bank has already implemented to better protect Australians,” said the CBA’s Head of Group Fraud James Roberts.
The strength of the BioCatch Trust network improves with each new financial institution that joins. As more banks contribute account intelligence, the system grows smarter and more effective, offering deeper insights and broader coverage.
This collective intelligence helps to protect against existing, unknown, and emerging threats, significantly enhancing fraud detection across the Australian banking ecosystem.
BioCatch Trust complements existing networks that share information after a scam has taken place, assisting the sending bank to make real-time risk assessments of receiving accounts before the sender transfers away any money.
“Scams are the plague of our times,” said NAB General Manager of Group Investigations Chris Sheehan. “This is a global first and a great example of how Australia is embracing innovation and strategic partnerships to stop criminals in their tracks. We look forward to seeing this technology in action to help us protect customers and detect scams at scale, in real time.”
