Canadian banks need to do more to stop abusive e-transfers, survivors say

WARNING: This story con‐ tains details of abuse and may affect those who have experienced intimate part‐ ner violence or know some‐ one who has.

Emma Parsons had block‐ ed her ex-boyfriend on her phone and all of her social media apps after he inun‐ dated her with unwanted tex‐ ts.

"They were very abusive messages," the Ottawa nursing student said. "They were mean. They were trying to belittle me and bully me, you know, telling me how bad I was."

He even used spoofed phone numbers to break through the wall she had tried to build for herself. That's when she started get‐ ting e-transfers from him with nasty messages at‐ tached.

"The first one was $1, and then I think the other ones were less than $5," she said. "I was so shocked. I was so surprised that he would send an e-transfer."

Parsons says she felt too embarrassed and uncomfort‐ able to report the e-transfers to the bank or police.

"I don't feel like they'd take me seriously enough," she said. "The police would probably be like, 'Oh, here's your case number. See you in a few years."

But when she and her mother, Carmen, heard how a woman in Sault Ste, Marie, Ont., had received a flurry of abusive and threatening etransfers before her ex mur‐ dered her in October, they decided to speak out.

"People need to know that this happens and that maybe there's things that we can do about it," said Carmen.

Survivors of intimate part‐ ner violence (IPV) say Canada's banks need to step up and do more to protect victims from abuse through their platforms, as some oth‐ er countries are doing.

The Canadian Bankers As‐ sociation says its members do have some policies in place to protect customers and said they are always ex‐ ploring ways to combat abuse, but did not offer many details.

Some survivors of IPV say with abusive messages like these getting through, banks aren't doing nearly enough.

Australia sets an exam‐ ple

It's a problem the banking in‐ dustry in Australia decided to tackle head on after a shock‐ ing and high-profile domestic violence case in 2014 involv‐ ing the murder of an 11-yearold boy by his father, a man with a long history of abusive behaviour.

"We just saw that and said, 'We can't look away. We need to make changes.'" said Catherine Fitzpatrick, a former banking executive with the country's largest bank and a financial safety consultant. "A lot of other sectors have followed suit."

"What we decided in Aus‐ tralia was that it couldn't be just one bank that moved on this. It needed to be every‐ body."

Fitzpatrick's data team at

Commonwealth Bank ana‐ lyzed 11 million transactions in a three-month period and found more than 8,000 cus‐ tomers who had experienced what she described as "abu‐ sive messages" through their bank accounts.

"I read one that was a se‐ ries of 900 messages, one cent at a time, saying things like, 'I want to kill you. I want to kill them all,'" Fitzpatrick said.

Australian banks have since implemented a number of measures to end the mis‐ use of banking platforms by abusers, including introduc‐ ing AI software that blocks messages containing abusive language and in-app self-re‐ porting tools for survivors to flag abusive messages to banks as soon as they are re‐ ceived.

Two banks in particular sent warning letters to clients engaging in abusive behavi‐ our. Fitzpatrick said in 90 per cent of those cases the abu‐ sive behaviour through bank‐ ing platforms stopped.

Fourteen Australian banks also include financial abuse clauses in their terms and conditions clearly outlining that if a client engages in abuse through their platform it could result in account clo‐ sures or suspensions.

Many of Australian banks also created resource pages with extensive tools and tips for people experiencing dif‐ ferent forms of IPV-related fi‐ nancial abuse, including counselling services.

"What's really insidious about this form of tech facili‐ tated abuse is it's often the last resort," Fitzpatrick said, noting that it's on the indus‐ try to create safety tools.

"It shouldn't be up to the user to keep themselves safe. So you need to take steps to design your platform with safety in mind."

The measures undertaken in Australia have blocked more than a million abusive messages in real time since 2020, Fitzpatrick said.

It shouldn't be up to the user to keep themselves safe. So you need to take steps to design your platform with safety in mind.- Cather‐ ine Fitzpatrick, former Australian banking ex‐ ecutive

She shared the Australian banking industry's experi‐ ences and solutions with the International Banking Feder‐ ation at a meeting on Oct. 27, 2022, where she also out‐ lined software used by a number of Australian banks to detect abusive messages. The Commonwealth Bank's program that weeds out abu‐ sive words is now being shared for free with banks worldwide.

"I think every bank around the world should be imple‐ menting the blocks and cer‐ tainly detecting the patterns and the abuse in bank ac‐ counts," she said. "We have the technology and it is freely available now."

Fitzpatrick describes fi‐ nancial abuse as a powerful weapon used against sur‐ vivors that businesses need to disrupt.

"I would really encourage every bank in Canada to look at the way the Australian banks, some of the U.K. and the New Zealand banks are starting to move on this problem," she said.

Canadian banks re‐ spond

CBC News contacted five of Canada's major banks, Sco‐ tiabank, the Bank of Mon‐ treal, CIBC, Toronto Domin‐ ion Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada asking if any of them had implemented mea‐ sures to prevent this type of financial abuse.

CBC News also asked the five major Canadian banks if they have added intimate partner clause clauses to their terms and conditions. They did not respond.

All five banks deferred to the Canadian Bankers Associ‐ ation (CBA), which represents more than 60 domestic and foreign banks operating in Canada.

Have you been the target of abusive etransfer messages? Con‐ tact Katie Nicholson at katie.nicholson@cbc.ca.

The CBA issued an email statement saying its mem‐ bers have policies and proce‐ dures in place to protect im‐ pacted customers from ha‐ rassment and other forms of abuse.

The statement encour‐ ages clients experiencing abuse to report it to their bank and law enforcement and noted they can withdraw banking services from people engaging in abusive behavi‐ our.

The CBA also said "banks are continuously exploring ways to combat any form of abuse, including technologyfacilitated financial abuse, while managing legal, privacy and operational considera‐ tions."

No other specifics were provided despite CBC News's repeated requests for more details and clarity.

Interac also provided an email statement saying using its payment service to facili‐ tate abuse and harassment is against its Terms of Use. The company said it is committed to enhancing its services to help customers but offered few specifics.

IPV survivor wants banks to be proactive

One IPV survivor in Quebec is frustrated that Canadian banks don't seem to be doing more.

The woman, who CBC is not identifying due to con‐ cerns about her personal safety, would like to see banks here be more proac‐ tive by implementing pro‐ grams like the one offered by Commonwealth Bank that blocks abusive messages.

"I'm highly disappointed," she said. "It would frustrate me to think that banks are continuing to make profits, even in the economic state that we are currently in, and yet they would not deem it important enough to invest money in setting up some kind of a system like that."

WATCH | What survivors of abuse via e-transfer want Canada's banks to do:

The woman, who relies on alimony and child support payments from her ex, shared a series of e-transfers with CBC News in which her ex either insulted her or set up security questions that would require her to dis‐ parage herself in order to ac‐ cess the funds.

"When you are waiting for the money to pay for your bills, you can't exactly say to the aggressive person 'Please ask me a nice question,' " she said. "You kind of have to bend over and accept what is coming to you."

Carmen and Emma Par‐ sons are also disappointed that there doesn't appear to be much movement on the issue from Canadian banks.

"Why do we wait until someone tells them they have to? Especially in this case where it's doing good and would be useful and helpful," Carmen said.

For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support ser‐ vices. If you're in immedi‐ ate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.