NAB digital boss backs national ID scheme amid cyber crime spike

The bank’s top digital officer supports calls for a digital ID scheme to avoid the damaging fallout of hacks which have stolen personal information.

National Australia Bank’s top digital officer has backed calls for a national ID scheme to avoid the fallout of damaging hacks and loss of critical customer data.

The bank’s chief digital, data and analytics officer Angela Mentis says the 100 point ID system was outdated and Australia was lagging other countries in bringing in secure identification systems.

Speaking at the Australian British Chamber of Commerce, Ms Mentis said the bank backed moves by the NSW government to explore a digital ID, noting without action people would continue to have personal information pilfered.

“We’re behind where we should be,” Ms Mentis said, pointing to the experience of Nordic countries, which introduced digital ID verification decades ago.

“Government at state and federal, as well as the public and private sectors, absolutely need to get together, especially when you think about what’s been happening recently around cyber attacks and identity fraud.”

The NSW government announced last week plans to bring in digital ID systems, launching a pilot photo verification platform that would allow customers to store encrypted personal data on their phones.

NSW already offers its residents the opportunity to hold digital copies of drivers licences, but the pilot will expand this to allow state residents to renew working with children checks and conduct proof of age checks via the Service NSW app.

National Australia Bank’s top digital officer has backed calls for a digital ID scheme to avoid the damaging fallout of hacks which have stolen personal information. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Ms Mentis said NAB was working with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Ausrtalian Security Council Commission to stop ID theft.

But she questioned why so much personal information had to be handed over every time Australians applied for services.

“We are storing it for so long, and we’re doing it because the law expects us,” she said.

“The effects of what happens to victims, when they have their identity stolen, when they have money taken, It’s just awful.”

Ms Mentis noted 86400, which NAB bought in December last year, and Ubank, both required less information from customers than NAB.

She said combating cybercrime was complicated by ongoing shortages of skilled graduates, noting NAB was short 500 people across the bank.

Ms Mentis, who until recently managed NAB’s Bank of New Zealand, said governments needed to support more training in digital and data skills as well as open up skilled migration and improve visa processing skills to address ongoing backlogs.

“We need to be attracting and retaining and developing the best talent and this is no small challenge, at NAB like many other organisations were faced with critical labour skills, gaps and shortages across data, digital design, cyber and technology,” she said.

“We need to keep advocating for more modern education curriculums more skilled migration, faster visa process and more compelling pathways to permanent residency.”

Ms Mentis’ comments come as NAB prepares to launch its “customer brain” which would deliver “human-like” experiences for customers engaging with the bank through digital channels.

She said the system would aim to anticipate customers’ needs and serve them up products or offerings they may need to access.

“We’ve seen a 43 per cent increase in that customer clicking on that notification in their mobile or their internet banking because it was just much more relevant,” she said.

“Through doing this, we’ll be able to see when our customers are struggling financially.”