The growth in multifactor authentication is set to pressure other financial institutions, such as superannuation funds, to beef up their security.
“I’m staggered that super funds don’t have it,” said Halverson.
Payments consultant Lance Blockley.Credit: Louie Douvis
Lance Blockley, managing director of payments consulting firm the Initiatives Group, said the growth would force others to follow.
“The problem you’ve got is consumers over the past 10 years have all wanted convenience, and convenience is at odds with security in most instances,” he said.
“There’s a need to insert friction into some transactions just so there’s time to check who’s who in the zoo.”
Blockley said the rise of multifactor authentication would also benefit elderly customers who had shared their banking details with someone they trust. “This will alert them to someone accessing that account,” he said.
Australians lost $119 million to scams – where the victim approves the transaction – in the first four months of this year. That is up 28 per cent year on year, said the National Anti-Scam Centre, which is run by the competition regular. In 2024, Australians lost $2 billion to scams, down 26 per cent on the previous year.
Meanwhile, card-related fraud losses – when someone steals a person’s credentials and makes payments without their authorisation — rose to $868 million last financial year, from $677.5 million the year before.
One in five Australians have fallen victim to banking fraud, while one in four know someone affected by it, according to a study by financial services market research firm RFI Global.
NAB intends to phase out passwords for internet banking within five years, replacing them with passkeys and fingerprint or facial recognition technology.
This year, ANZ customers will be able to access their web banking through two authentication methods: either by using a passkey, which could be their fingerprint, face or mobile device PIN, or by entering their mobile number and approving a login request sent to their ANZ app.
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Halverson said cybersecurity was an essential part of bank business. “You’re actually saving money – if you can reduce fraud, you’re actually reducing people contacting you. But you’ve got to be pre-emptive in your outlook.
“The growth of AI agents and AI in general is going to open up a whole new area for financial fraud and privacy fraud and also individual loss of identity.”
