Macquarie Bank taps BioCatch Trust for scam prevention

By Vriti Gothi

Macquarie Bank has joined BioCatch Trust Australia, an interbank, behavioural- and device-based fraud intelligence-sharing network. The move expands the reach of the platform, which now safeguards more than 85% of Australians from scams and financial crime.

Launched in November 2024 with five founding members, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Suncorp Bank, and Westpac, the Trust network represents a pioneering industry collaboration designed to transform fraud prevention. By pooling anonymised behavioural and device intelligence, the platform enables banks to assess the risk of receiving accounts in real time before funds leave a customer’s account.

Since its inception, BioCatch Trust™ Australia has evaluated over $500 billion in payments, preventing millions of dollars in potential losses. The addition of Macquarie, the country’s fifth-largest bank, enhances the platform’s scope, resilience, and ability to combat increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.

For customers, the platform delivers an additional line of defence. By sharing intelligence across member banks, BioCatch Trust™ can detect high-risk receiving accounts in real time, giving sending institutions the ability to pause and review suspicious transactions before funds are lost. This approach is particularly effective against scams that begin outside digital banking sessions, such as those initiated via email, phone, or social media, where fraudsters manipulate victims into authorising payments. The network achieves this while protecting customer privacy through robust pseudonymisation technology.

 David Sheehan, Head of Client Protection at Macquarie Bank, said, “As global fraud and scam activity becomes more sophisticated, we’ve continued to invest in our digital security and tools. We know that security and trust are paramount for our customers, so we look forward to working with BioCatch Trust™ Australia to add another layer of security protection for Australians. As new technology becomes available, customer vigilance is still a key part of scam- and fraud-prevention, and it’s always been our view that it’s important that a broad range of impacted sectors take a collaborative, multi-sector approach when tackling scams and fraud. We think Trust Australia is a great example of bank collaboration in action. Joining the Trust network was a natural next step in our broader scam-prevention initiatives including real-time payment controls, behavioural biometrics, and our standalone two-factor authentication app, Macquarie Authenticator.”

Gadi Mazor, CEO of BioCatch, said,  “We’re proud to welcome Macquarie Bank to BioCatch Trust™ Australia. Its commitment to innovation and customer protection strengthens our shared mission to disrupt scam operations and protect Australians from financial harm. The addition of Macquarie means Trust Australia now protects more than 85% of the country’s online banking population.”