A surge in fraud could be imminent, ANZ staff have warned, after the bank decided to cut 16% of its fraud team by the end of March.
There are also plans afoot to shift jobs offshore to the Philippines from the specialised Falcon unit, which investigates credit card fraud.
The fraud team concentrates on a broad range of financial services, including cheques, mortgages, personal loans, car loans, and internet banking. It also covers terminal and transaction fraud, including eftpos payment facilities and ATM-skimming.
The Australian Payments Clearing Association revealed last month that credit card fraud increased by almost 23% to $210 million during the last financial year.
It is thought that ANZ management are aware that write-offs will increase, but that they cannot anticipate what the impact is going to be. Fraud management is expected to become much more difficult because of the lack of manpower to meet deadlines for background checks.
ANZ have reassured customers their accounts would remain secure, explained that their ‘continued investment in technology’ would provide the same level of protection ‘without the need for as much manual intervention’.
Customers are also assured that they will be reimbursed for any losses as an innocent victim of fraud.
Westpac employees will be bracing themselves for similar upheavals as 600 jobs are expected to be cut as the bank adjusts to a slower domestic and global economy.
Are you an ANZ bank account customer? How does this affect your sentiment towards the bank? Visit Which4U’s bank account listings to keep informed of what is happening elsewhere.
Kate Guthrie
