The money trap: Australian women drag banks to the fight against relentless financial abuse

When Ella* left an abusive relationship, her partner cleared all their joint bank accounts, leaving her with no access to money.

She had no way to fill her car with petrol or to buy nappies and formula.

That was only the start of a financial nightmare that compounded the physical, emotional and psychological abuse she experienced during the relationship, something experts in the field say is all but universal among survivors.

Ella was unaware that her former partner had set up their finances so that all the assets were in his name, while all the bills were in hers.

She had let him make the decisions because he persistently undermined her confidence in managing financial matters.

When they separated, he stopped paying the bills, racking up debt in her name for services in a home she was no longer living in.

Her partner also stopped paying the mortgage, so the significant amount the couple had saved up in a redraw facility had disappeared by the time they completed their property settlement.

It noted that more than 500,000 abusive transactions had been intercepted since real-time blocks on inappropriate language in the descriptions of bank transfers were introduced in 2020.

One woman received 900 messages in this form from her abuser in the space of a few days, attached to deposits of as little as one cent.

The interceptions have resulted in 3,000 customers being issued a warning letter, having their online banking suspended or accounts closed.

For the overwhelming majority (90%), a warning letter was enough to stop abuse via bank transactions.

But using payments as a messaging service is only one of the many ways she has witnessed financial products being weaponised while working as a banking executive.

But in hindsight, she could see how it began and was perpetuated.

Their credit cards and bank accounts were held jointly, but he would cancel or drastically lower the limit without her consent.

When she left him, he continued working while loading her with debt from the unpaid mortgage.

The latest national plan to end violence against women and children, launched in October, identifies economic and financial abuse as a priority area and highlights the role business can play.

Fitzpatrick says more needs to be done to prevent abuse before it happens.

The CWES report identifies joint banking products such as transaction accounts, credit cards, personal loans and mortgages as those most commonly implicated in financial abuse.

Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for Australian women.

Bentley says banking is the first industry to say it will stop offering its services to those who misuse its platforms.

Names have been changed.