The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has opened consultation on proposed changes to its Rules that would expand its jurisdiction to include receiving banks in scam-related disputes, potentially reshaping how responsibility is assessed when money is transferred to fraudulent accounts.
At present, complaints to AFCA about scams typically focus on the consumer’s own bank or financial firm. The proposed amendments would allow AFCA to consider the conduct of the institution that received the funds — for example, where a customer alleges a recipient bank failed to detect or block a mule account, did not act promptly to freeze suspected proceeds of crime, or otherwise fell short of reasonable anti-scam controls.
AFCA’s move comes amid sustained community pressure to improve outcomes for victims of payment redirection and other authorised push payment scams, which have become a prominent feature of Australia’s fraud landscape. It also sits alongside wider policy and industry efforts to curb scam losses, including work on a cross‑industry code and banking sector initiatives such as the Scam Safe Accord, which commits institutions to measures like name‑checking and enhanced mule‑account detection.
The consultation is expected to canvas the scope of any expanded jurisdiction and how it would operate in practice, including questions of how accountability might be assessed across sending and receiving institutions, how loss could be apportioned where multiple firms are involved, and how remedies would be calculated. Practical implications for firms’ internal dispute resolution and AFCA’s processes are also likely to be in focus.
Expanding AFCA’s remit to receiving banks would mark a significant shift from a long‑standing model that centres on the consumer’s contractual relationship with their own financial provider. Consumer advocates have argued that greater scrutiny of recipient institutions is needed to drive stronger controls at the point where scam proceeds are deposited, while parts of the industry have warned against overlapping liabilities and the risk of inconsistent outcomes without clear standards.
AFCA operates under Rules approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Any amendments will be finalised after consultation and then require ASIC approval before they can take effect. If adopted, the changes would give consumers and small businesses an additional pathway to seek redress in cases where losses are alleged to have been exacerbated by failings at the receiving end of a scam transaction.
Details of the consultation, including the proposed Rule changes and how to make a submission, are available on AFCA’s website.
