Australia's banks and finance firms are joining forces with Australia's leading financial safety by design expert, to prevent financial abuse, with the launch of the Financial Safety Alliance.
The Financial Safety Alliance, founded by social enterprise Flequity Ventures, brings together the Australian Banking Association, the Australian Finance Industry Association, the Customer Owned Banking Association and Arca.
The Alliance will provide lenders with the tools to integrate financial safety by design principles into their products and services to minimise the weaponisation of financial products and give victim-survivors the support they need.
This alliance builds on the work of 40 banks who have updated their terms and conditions to ban the misuse of financial products for control or harm, putting more than 20 million customers on notice that financial abuse carries serious consequences.
Flequity CEO, Catherine Fitzpatrick said the alliance with finance sector industry associations will help more than 200 banks and lenders to disrupt financial abuse.
"Together we'll create tools to apply financial safety by design, closing the loopholes that abusers exploit and providing more consistent support to customers."
ABA CEO Simon Birmingham said the Financial Safety Alliance represented a significant step forward in combatting financial abuse across the whole industry.
"Unfortunately, banking products are exploited by the perpetrators of totally unacceptable financial abuse. It's despicable behaviour that we want to stamp out.
"Through this coordinated action, Australia is setting a new benchmark for how financial institutions can work together to prevent abuse and safeguard customers.
"Australian banks are taking world-leading steps to help embed financial safety by design principles in banking products, helping stop abuse before it occurs."
AFIA CEO Diane Tate said the finance industry is stepping up to protect vulnerable customers, with non-bank lenders adopting safety-by-design and practical support into everyday finance.
"Australia's finance industry stands united to deliver strong, consistent protections and pathways to support those experiencing financial abuse," AFIA CEO Diane Tate said.
"This joint initiative puts customer wellbeing at the centre of innovation, strengthening trust across our industry through embedding safeguards that put people first."
COBA CEO Michael Lawrence said the launch of the Financial Safety Alliance represents a critical moment of industry unity against financial abuse.
"Customer-owned banks witness the devastating impact of this insidious issue daily, which is why we are joining forces to address it on a system-wide level," COBA CEO Michael Lawrence said.
"Customer-owned banks are deeply committed to the people and communities we serve, and this alliance will empower the entire industry to better identify abuse, stop perpetrators from misusing banking products and ultimately protect customers."
Arca CEO, Elsa Markula said that credit and credit reporting should be tools of financial inclusion and empowerment, not abuse.
"Credit should be a tool for supporting your life, not a weapon. While our members are in the business of funding Australian lives, whether that's buying a home, getting a car on the road, or simply managing everyday purchases. They also witness the devastation of financial abuse firsthand. We are proud to join this alliance, developing a framework that will not only improve recovery support for victim-survivors but, crucially, prevent the credit system from being weaponised in the first place."
