NAB is cracking down on financial abuse by introducing enhanced measures to automatically block abusive and threatening transaction descriptions.

Under the changes, payments on the NAB app on iOS and Android that contain offensive words and phrases will not be processed.

Customers who try to include any of the 1,300 offensive words and phrases flagged by NAB will receive a real-time message letting them know they need to change the description for the transaction to proceed.

According to a recent study conducted by Deloitte and commissioned by the Commonwealth Bank, the direct cost of financial abuse in 2020 amount to a mind-boggling $5.7 billion. The survey revealed that 623,000 Australians were victims of financial abuse, representing approximately 380,000 women and 240,000 men.

In doing its part to end this prevalent form of abuse, NAB has dedicated an entire team of trained professionals who review blocked transaction information, issue warnings and refer customers to support services.

"Our system is now smarter than ever," said Rachel Slade, NAB's executive director of personal banking.

“It can now instantly recognize special characters and spaces that have been substituted into forbidden words and phrases. Similarly, it can recognize whether a word should be allowed because it matches the official name of the account holder or the name of the business.”

NAB's aim is to protect its customers from verbal abuse, whether it's teenagers using transactions to bully others or intimate partners committing financial abuse.

“We are committed to working with our customers and other organizations to reduce the prevalence of this behavior. We also encourage customers to contact us if they receive abusive or threatening messages. We are here to help,'' Ms Slade said.

Commenting on NAB's commitment, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the bank's initiative would really move the needle in tackling online abuse.

"[It] will prevent many of the online harms we face every day in the first place,” Ms Grant said.

"We commend NAB for taking proactive steps towards adopting this 'Security by Design' approach and protecting their customers from online abuse perpetrated through their banking application and internet banking service."

NAB has also recently introduced an acceptable use of e-banking policy to call out the illegal use of NAB's e-banking channels.

"This involved making threatening and abusive comments to any person," Ms Slade said.

The big four banks have been actively blocking internet banking abuse since November 2020.

Maja Garatsa Djurdjevic

Maya's career in journalism spans more than a decade in finance, business and politics. Already an experienced editor and reporter in all elements of the financial services sector, before joining Momentum Media, Maya reported for several established news outlets in South East Europe, looking at key processes in post-conflict societies.