ANZ and Westpac have separately announced a new account block feature, enabling customers to shut down use of their bank accounts if suspected misuse is identified.  

Westpac’s ‘SafeBlock’ feature, accessible via the bank’s app and online banking portal, allows customers to block new transactions from digital and card payments, transfers, and ATM withdrawals.

The feature is designed to prevent scammers or other unwanted parties from transacting on their accounts and causing a potential financial loss.

The SafeBlock feature can be deactivated by customers, with verification of one’s identity, once the security of their accounts has been confirmed. Even if a customer enacts a block, pre-scheduled transfers and subscriptions that have been established with a BSB and account number will proceed as scheduled.

Westpac group executive of customer & corporate services Carolyn McCann hailed the new account block capability as a “game-changer, offering customers a simple yet powerful tool to protect their accounts if they think they’ve been scammed”.

“From experience, we know that scammers strike when we are at our busiest, often catching out unsuspecting customers. With SafeBlock, if a customer suspects they have been scammed, they will be able to immediately block their accounts in the app, preventing any further damage.”

“This is a break-glass emergency option for customers so they can stop a scam in the moment when acting fast is absolutely vital.”

McCann, while noting Westpac’s commitment to anti-scams technology innovation, called on industry to collectively “step up and stop scams at the source, so we can shut these criminals down”.

Separately, fellow big four bank ANZ has announced the forthcoming launch of its ‘Digital Padlock’ feature, which similarly enables customers to block their accounts in “just a few clicks” if they suspect potential fraudulent activity. The feature is accessible via the ANZ App, ANZ Plus and internet banking portal.

Available from mid-2025, the Digital Padlock will also automatically notify the bank’s fraud monitoring system, Falcon, of any suspicious activity.

Once the lock is in place, the bank will require customers to contact ANZ’s customer support team to restore full banking services.

Commenting on the soon-to-be-released feature, ANZ group executive Australia retail Maile Carnegie said the capability will give customers “direct, real-time control over the security of their own accounts”.

“It will provide some extra peace of mind for customers, knowing that they can act quickly if they think they are at risk of being compromised and protect them from common scams currently targeting Australians, including phishing and impersonation scams.”

ANZ has also formally introduced a new, dedicated and specialist team within its Customer Protection team to directly support customers who suspect they may have fallen victim to cybercriminals.

Dubbed ‘ANZ First Responders’ and piloted back in 2024, the bank said it expects to grow the currently 65-member team over the next 12 months.

Westpac notes that it has invested more than $100 million in scam prevention over the last two years, preventing the loss of more than $400 million to scammers.

ANZ said its “people and systems” have prevented the loss more than $140 million to criminals through 2024.