Non-major aligns with ‘world-first initiative’ to combat financial abuse

Suncorp Group has announced it has united with 21 other Australian businesses across the banking, insurance, telecommunications, education, and tech sectors in a “world-first” mobilisation against domestic and family abuse perpetrators.

The group has joined the national Respect and Protect initiative led by Flequity Ventures, a social enterprise that aims to “disrupt financial abuse through better product design”.

Through the initiative, each business has made an agreement to prohibit the misuse of their products and services for financial abuse via updates to their terms and conditions or policies.

Suncorp Group CEO consumer insurance Lisa Harrison stated that the group acknowledges the impact that financial abuse can have on its customers, including the “misuse of financial products and service[s] to cause harm”.

“Suncorp is taking steps to update our financial abuse and inappropriate behaviour terms and conditions to reflect that a bank account and an insurance policy is no place for financial or other types of abuse and using them in this way can have serious impacts,” Harrison said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2023 Personal Safety data, economic abuse affects 2.4 million Australian adults, including one in six women and one in 13 men.

“Suncorp Group is dedicated to being industry-leading when it comes to supporting customers experiencing family and domestic violence and financial abuse,” the group said.

“We work closely with our people, customer, and communities to make sure we are providing the best level of care for our customers during the times they need us the most.”

This is the latest from non-major banks aiming to do more in the fight against financial abuse.

Earlier this year, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank developed its inaugural Financial Inclusion Action Plan (the Plan), which was developed for the benefit of customers, people, suppliers, and communities through consultation with stakeholders.

The Plan homes in on the bank’s actions, activities, and investments to 2025, while committing to 52 actions aimed at enhancing financial wellbeing.

Additionally, AMP Bank announced in December 2023 that it has updated terms and conditions for loans and accounts for new and existing customers to help provide improved support for customers and when its products and services are inappropriately used.

AMP confirmed that it had updates to facilitating the closure of accounts, blocking transactions, cancelling credit cards, and/or access methods and restricted accounts for the protection of another individual.

[RELATED: Bendigo Bank launches Financial Inclusion Action Plan]

Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

E-mail Adrian at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.