Australia’s major banking and finance bodies have formed a new alliance to stop financial products being used as tools of coercion and control.
The Financial Safety Alliance, created by social enterprise Flequity Ventures, brings together the Australian Banking Association (ABA), the Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA), the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA), and credit reporting body Arca.
The alliance will help more than 200 banks and lenders build financial safety by design into their products and systems – aiming to close loopholes that allow accounts, loans, and credit to be weaponised, and to improve support for victim‑survivors.
Flequity CEO Catherine Fitzpatrick (pictured upper left) said the coordinated effort will lift protections across the sector.
“Together, we’ll create tools to apply financial safety by design, closing the loopholes that abusers exploit and helping provide more consistent support to customers,” Fitzpatrick said.
The move builds on the ABA and Westpac’s “Safety by Design” toolkit, released in November 2024 to help banks embed customer safety features into product and service design, and make it harder for perpetrators to exploit digital banking channels.
The new alliance follows earlier work by 40 banks and lenders that have already changed their terms and conditions to explicitly ban the misuse of financial products for harm or control. Those changes have effectively put more than 20 million customers on notice that financial abuse can carry serious consequences.
Under the alliance, lenders will be provided with practical frameworks and tools to redesign processes, monitor misuse, and intervene earlier when red flags appear. The goal is to make it harder for perpetrators to hide abuse within everyday banking and credit activity.
ABA CEO Simon Birmingham (pictured upper right) said bringing the industry together represents a major advance in tackling financial abuse.
“Unfortunately, banking products are exploited by the perpetrators of totally unacceptable financial abuse. It’s despicable behaviour that we want to stamp out," Birmingham said.
“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 (pictured lower left) said the initiative shows both banks and non‑bank lenders are lifting their game.
“Australia’s finance industry stands united to deliver strong, consistent protections and pathways to support those experiencing financial abuse,” 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 (pictured lower right) said customer-owned banks see the human toll of financial abuse up close and are committed to a sector-wide response.
“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,” 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 serve as tools for financial inclusion and empowerment, not instruments of abuse.
“Credit should be a tool for supporting your life, not a weapon," Markula said.
"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.”
The alliance also dovetails with Australia’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032, the federal framework that commits governments and industry to work together to end gender-based violence “in one generation” through prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing.
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