Banking Safely

We use 24 hour fraud monitoring on our Debit Mastercard and Fair Rate Credit Card. As provided in our Terms and Conditions, you'll be covered by the bank for loss under Mastercard’s Zero Liability Protection policy. This policy concerns how we aim to protect you from unauthorised activity on your card, provided that you have adhered to our Terms and Conditions, including by:

• using reasonable care in protecting your card from loss or theft; and
• promptly reporting the loss or theft to your financial institution.

The team spend time analysing online banking activity. If they get in touch with you, it means they’ve noticed something that looks suspicious and they may need to confirm whether a transaction was authorised by you. You may also receive a text message asking you to give us a call.

The team will never ask you for confirmation of your security details or password and you shouldn’t disclose this information to anyone.

Our Online Promise aims to protect you against losses you may incur through unauthorised transactions on your Co‑operative Bank accounts if you’re the victim of Internet Banking fraud as long as you have followed the necessary precautions and have not contributed to the losses through your actions.

Our Internet Banking and Mobile app both have security features that automatically log you out if you’re inactive for 10 minutes or more. If you get your password wrong 3 times in a row, your account will be locked out.

Our Co-op Safeguard system uses two-factor authentication to prove it's really you when some types of transactions are attempted on your Internet Banking. A one-time PIN will be sent through to your registered New Zealand mobile number by SMS and you’ll need to enter this PIN to authorise the transaction or account change. The PIN is only valid for a short amount of time and will be rejected if entered after a set time.

Your Internet Banking has an alerts function which can be set up to send a push notification or email to notify you when someone logs into your Internet Banking. There’s also the option to have an alert when there’s been a withdrawal over a certain amount, when any EFTPOS transactions are made or when amendments have been made to payees – among others.

Mastercard® ID Check is an extra layer of security that helps us check it’s you (and not someone pretending to be you with your card) when shopping online. Find out more about Mastercard® ID Check.

Never write down, save or share your PIN or passwords with anyone – including friends and family. Make sure your PIN and passwords are unique and hard to guess, make them different and change them regularly. If you lose your card, block it immediately via our Mobile app or Internet Banking.

Remember that banks and trusted organisations will never contact you asking for your PIN or passwords. If someone is asking for something that doesn’t feel right, remember it’s always ok to question it and say no – even if it feels impolite. Scammers rely on people being naturally trusting or believing stories that are too good to be true.

Delete emails from people or organisations you don’t recognise and be cautious when receiving phone calls from people claiming to be from reputable organisations. Always consider what they’re asking for and if you’re suspicious, ask if you could call them back on a number found via their website or the phone book. If they are pressuring you to act quickly or making suggestions as to what to tell others, consider these as red flags. Never enter your card details into any pop-up ads or phishing links, as these are often malicious. See our Common Scams page for more information.

When shopping online or logging into your Internet Banking, check for the SSL secure connection symbol – a locked padlock – in the browser bar to the left of the website name. Another positive sign to look for is a web address that starts with “https.” This is a sign of a secure connection and can help keep your information safe from hackers.

Sometimes you may discover activity on your account or card that strikes you as unusual or you might think you didn’t make the transaction. If this happens and you’re concerned, firstly temporarily block your card via our Mobile app or Internet Banking to prevent further activity from happening. Call our Contact Centre on 0800 554 554 or your local branch to notify them of the unusual activity on your account.

Next, we ask you to consider if this may be related to a genuine transaction that you participated in. Transactions made online can often appear differently to what is expected, or may be reflected under a different trading name than the merchant you engaged with. It could be worth searching for the company name online to find out more information about them.

If you still have concerns after this step, contact the bank directly to discuss the activity further. Our staff may ask a few questions to help us understand the situation and may ask you to fill in a Transaction Dispute Form. This form can be emailed to you if you’re speaking with someone over the phone or a hard copy picked up at any Co‑operative Bank branch. It will then be sent on to a team to investigate and they will be in touch with you to discuss the matter further.