Australia’s leading banking and finance bodies have launched a new national alliance to shut down the misuse of accounts, loans, and credit as tools of control.
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) announced on Tuesday (27 January) it would be banding with banks, non-bank lenders, customer-owned institutions, and credit bodies under the Financial Safety Alliance, in a co-ordinated push to prevent financial products being weaponised and to deliver more consistent support for victim-survivors.
Founded by social enterprise Flequity Ventures, the Financial Safety Alliance unites the ABA, the Australian Finance Industry Association (AFIA), the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA), and The Australian Retail Credit Association (ARCA), representing credit and credit reporting providers.
The alliance will develop practical tools so lenders can embed “financial safety by design” principles into product features, policies and processes, with the explicit aim of reducing opportunities for financial abuse and strengthening customer assistance when harm occurs.
Building on industry action
The move builds on earlier work that saw 40 banks update their terms and conditions to ban the misuse of financial products for control or harm, a shift that has already put more than 20 million customers on notice that financial abuse can carry “serious consequences”.
Flequity CEO Catherine Fitzpatrick said formalising the alliance with finance‑sector peak bodies would extend that momentum across more than 200 banks and lenders.
“Together we’ll create tools to apply financial safety by design, closing the loopholes that abusers exploit and providing more consistent support to customers,” Fitzpatrick said.
ABA CEO Simon Birmingham said banking products are too often twisted by perpetrators of what he called “totally unacceptable” financial abuse and that co-ordinated action was needed at an industry‑wide level.
“Unfortunately, banking products are exploited by the perpetrators of totally unacceptable financial abuse. It’s despicable behaviour that we want to stamp out,” he said.
“Through this co-ordinated 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.”
Beyond banks: Non‑banks, community, and credit
AFIA CEO Diane Tate said the initiative underlined that the broader finance industry was “stepping up” to better protect vulnerable customers, with safety‑by‑design and practical support being built into everyday finance arrangements.
“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 said customer‑owned banks see the impact of financial abuse “daily” and that joining the alliance was about lifting protections across the system.
“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,” he 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.”
Credit reporting under the spotlight
Arca CEO Elsa Markula said the credit system itself must support inclusion and recovery, as opposed to acting as a separate arm of harm.
“Credit and credit reporting should be tools of financial inclusion and empowerment, not abuse,” she said. “Credit should be a tool for supporting your life, not a weapon.”
Markula noted that Arca members, who fund everything from home purchases to cars and day‑to‑day spending, see firsthand how financial abuse can devastate borrowers’ lives.
“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,” she said.
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