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The Australian Banking Association (ABA) is the information source for the news media on the Australian banking industry, providing information, analysis and context on industry issues.

The ABA plays an active role in the public dialogue on banking and financial services, providing commentary on broader industry issues and facilitating access to other sources of information.

For media inquiries contact [email protected] or 0475 741 007.


Media Releases
New RBA data shows rapid rise in digital payments
9 December 2024

New data released today from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), shows Australians continue to embrace the ease of mobile wallets when making payments. For the first time, the RBA’s latest monthly retail payments data includes a snapshot of newer payment technology, showing more than 500 million payments were made via mobile wallets in October,… Read more »

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Media Releases
Parliamentary inquiry shines a light on financial abuse
5 December 2024

The Australian Banking Association acknowledges the release today of the inquiry report into the Financial Services Regulatory Framework in Relation to Financial Abuse. CEO Anna Bligh said the ABA and its member banks acknowledge the important work of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services to further shine a light on financial abuse…. Read more »

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Media Releases
SMS Sender ID Register welcome in ongoing war against scammers
3 December 2024

The ABA welcomes further progress by the Federal Government to establish a mandatory SMS Sender ID register with an enforceable industry standard, in what will be a critical preventative measure in the fight against scammers. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said thwarting SMS impersonation scams would disrupt a key tactic that scammers use to steal money… Read more »

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Transcript
Interview with 4BC on how banks are combatting scams
28 November 2024

Gary Hardgrave (Host): To the story, Christine Rose and her husband, David, they fell victim to a vicious, really vicious scam. It’s robbed them of $40,000 the money was the house deposit for their first property purchased together. It’s all gone because a cyber-criminal impersonated their solicitor.   Christine Rose (clip from previous interview): It’s affected… Read more »

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Media Releases
Don’t get more than you bargained for this Black Friday
27 November 2024

Shoppers on the hunt for a bargain during the Black Friday sales period are being warned to be on high alert for scams. The Australian Banking Association is reminding shoppers to be on the lookout for popular scams that are circulating: ABA CEO Anna Bligh said scam activity always surges during the Black Friday sales… Read more »

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Transcript
Interview with ABC SA Country Hour on banks’ support for farmers impacted by drought
26 November 2024

Cassandra Hough (Host): Now staying with the drought, and off the back of all this drought concerns and frost events, there are a lot of producers facing financial distress, and as we heard on the program yesterday, they’ve been asking for banks to be flexible and provide some tailored support for farmers going forward. But what… Read more »

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Media Releases
Banks back Aussie farmers with record lending
15 November 2024

Australian banks continue to back growth and innovation across the farming sector with agribusiness lending now at record levels, exceeding $131 billion for the first time. The Australian Banking Association is highlighting the banking sector’s ongoing support for Aussie farmers this National Agriculture Day. Lending to agribusinesses has skyrocketed over the last year, rising 9.4 per cent in… Read more »

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Media Releases
New scams prevention framework key to winning war against scammers 
7 November 2024

The ABA welcomes the introduction into the Parliament of critical scam fighting legislation to better protect Australians.   ABA CEO Anna Bligh said the Federal Government’s proposed Scams Prevention Framework is the best way forward to prevent, detect, report, disrupt and respond to scams.   “This is an important step forward in our ongoing work to scam-proof… Read more »

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Media Releases
Banks stand ready to support Far West NSW communities impacted by recent storms 
1 November 2024

Banks stand ready to support Far West NSW communities hit by recent storms and ongoing power outages.   ABA CEO Anna Bligh acknowledged that many households and businesses in the Far West were still feeling the effect of this severe weather event.   “My message to customers in these communities, is please reach out to your bank… Read more »

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Media Releases
Keeping banking customers safe from financial abuse
1 November 2024

Customer safety will be front and centre when banks design their products and services under a new global leading initiative launched today by the Australian Banking Association, in partnership with Westpac. The new Safety by Design toolkit, developed by Westpac and made accessible to the sector, will give banks access to more guidance to ensure… Read more »

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Speech
Opening statement to Senate Inquiry into Financial Regulatory Framework & Home Ownership
24 October 2024

Good morning, Chair and members of the committee. Australian banks are committed to responsible lending rules, APRA requirements, and the Banking Code of Practice to protect consumers purchasing a home. Owning a home is central to the Australian way of life, and banks are committed to supporting first home buyers. In the last five years,… Read more »

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Transcript
Interview with 6PR on the proposal to ban surcharging  
15 October 2024

Gary Adshead (Host): And what’s happening is the ACCC, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission are going to be given some funding to tackle this as an issue and then potentially ban debit card charges from January 1, 2026 that seems a long way away anyway. Let’s talk about it now with Anna Bligh, the CEO… Read more »

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Media Releases
Banks welcome extension of Responsible Lending Obligation exemption for small businesses
1 October 2024

The ABA welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to extend the Responsible Lending Obligations (RLO) exemption for small businesses. ABA Acting CEO Vanessa Beggs said it was critical banks were able to provide small businesses with the finances they need to operate and expand. “One in four SMEs report wanting to increase their capital investment, so… Read more »

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Media Releases
New Deputy Chair appointed to ABA Council
18 September 2024

Today the Australian Banking Association Council has appointed Melanie Evans, CEO of ING Australia, as its new Deputy Chair.   The Council thanked the outgoing Deputy Chair, Marnie Baker, for her outstanding leadership during her tenure as Deputy Chair since 2019 and throughout her 35 years in the banking industry.   Ms Evans said she was honoured… Read more »

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Transcript
Doorstop in Sydney on new mandatory industry scams codes  
13 September 2024

Anna Bligh: This new framework is a comprehensive approach to the terrible scourge of scams. This will mean that every single part of the scam chain where scammers try to take the hard earned money of Australians will now have to play a role in preventing scams, detecting them and keeping Australians safe.  Journalist: I… Read more »

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Media Releases
Mandatory industry scams codes important part of winning war against scammers
13 September 2024

Banks welcome the release of draft legislation to establish a new Scam Prevention Framework to better protect consumers and drive scammers out of Australia. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said winning the war against scammers will only be possible through a collective effort across the entire scams chain, including from government, banks, telcos and social media… Read more »

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Transcript
Interview on ABC Radio Sydney on surcharges
4 September 2024

Craig Reucassel (Host): It’s also there was a bit of an inquiry into banking in parliament last week, NAB boss Andrew Irvine complained that he’d paid a 10 per cent surcharge when he bought a cup of coffee in Sydney. Surcharging has been outlawed in parts of the United States, Canada, Europe and Britain. Is… Read more »

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Op-Ed
Why Australia’s whole-of-scam-chain approach is key to winning the war against scammers
3 September 2024

One of the most alarming consequences of the recent CrowdStrike technical outage was how quickly scammers moved to take advantage of it. Within 24 hours, the Australian Cyber Security Centre had issued a warning to Australians about the potential risk of scams. Scammers pounced, impersonating CrowdStrike and Microsoft employees to trick people into providing remote access to… Read more »

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Media Releases
Supporting small business to repay debt
2 September 2024

The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has collaborated with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), CPA Australia (CPA), and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to create a support-based factsheet for small business customers who might be struggling to make repayments. Many things can cause a business owner to have difficulties repaying their debts and it’s… Read more »

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Transcript
Interview on ABC Radio Sydney on scams
30 August 2024

Sarah Macdonald (Host): Have you had a call from your bank to check you’re okay? Did you see the Commonwealth Bank in Canberra yesterday appearing and executives saying it is taking down 50 fake Commonwealth Bank websites a week, 50 a week. As you know, Australians are losing a lot of money to scams, $3… Read more »

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