The Internet banking community – particularly online banking customers – is in an uproar. In the advent of online banking, banks had been virtually enthusiastic in providing customers with the best safety and protection measures. But as online fraud appears to become more sophisticated in the passage of time, banking firms seem to be having second thoughts of their original position. More importantly, they seem to be inclined to shift all the blame to the customer’s shoulders.

The first sign of trouble came from the side of New Zealand. The New Zealand Banker’s Association had made major revisions of its code of practice. Most of it appears to make customers liable for losses due to online fraud if they are able to prove that the customer hadn’t taken all the necessary steps to make online transactions as safe as possible.

The Bankers’ Association of New Zealand includes but isn’t limited to the National Bank of NZ, which is owned by another member ANZ, Westpac, ASB Bank, and the Bank of New Zealand.

Changes in New Zealand’s code have made online banking customers in its closest neighbor, Australia, feel quite jittery. With fraud-related incidents resulting to almost Au$25M worth of loss each year, the Australian Bankers’ Association might take the same steps if they see New Zealand getting away with the changes without trouble.

Of course, such a scenario seems unlikely with the media firing protests. PC World of New Zealand, for instance, highlights rules that are unfairly vague for the consumers. By merely stating that ‘users must have appropriate protective software and operating system installed and up to date’ without specifying exactly what kind of steps they should take, the revised code allows banks to easily weasel out of reimbursing losses.

Thankfully, the outlook of New Zealand’s press and online banking consumer population seems to be shared by other countries. In United Kingdom, a report made by the House of Lords committee will propose for banks to become legally required to compensate customers if they suffer from online fraud.

This report was made by the science and technology committee after researching about personal internet security. They were particularly concerned with the security of online shopping as well as possible dangers brought by identity theft and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Although major banks in Great Britain are amenable to granting full reimbursement for cases of online fraud, the committee is concerned that this attitude of goodwill might change as fraud cases continue to increase.

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