Identity verification and protection

What is NAB Identity Protect?

NAB Identity Protect is our specialised team that contacts customers to perform identity verification. This is required to meet our obligations under Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF) Act 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007.

Why we contact you

Anti-money laundering regulations have strengthened protections against financial crime. We contact customers as part of our review process to ensure we have the most correct and up to date customer identity data. This data includes both personal details of individuals as well as business/organisation details.

This is not a scam

 To validate the legitimacy of our formal communications we provide the following protections:

• ability to validate the phone number and email address contained within your letter or email using the contact details on this page
• ability to walk into a NAB branch with the communications you’ve received from us to confirm their legitimacy.
• absence of hyperlinks within emails or SMS messages from NAB
• absence of phone numbers in SMS messages from NAB.

Note: Even if you don’t have your own NAB account, we may need information from you if you are connected to a NAB business customer or NAB account. For example, you may be a signatory, beneficial owner, director and we’ll still need to verify your identity.

Learn more about AML/CTF legislation, opens in new window

Consequences of not verifying your identity

If your identity details have not been verified, to meet our regulatory obligations, we may be required to suspend transactions for accounts held in your name, including any joint account(s). This means that you won’t be able to withdraw or send money from these accounts, and any recurring or automatic payments (for example, direct debits) will stop.

If you’re connected to a business customer as a primary contact relating to a business requiring verification, such as a beneficiary, partner, signatory, or director, you are considered a related party, and may, therefore, be required to verify your identity. If related parties are not successfully verified, this may result in the suspension of transactions for accounts held by in the name of the business entity. To prevent account suspension, follow the instructions in the communication we sent to verify your identity. 

If you think you’ll be unable to verify your identity by the required timeframe (e.g. you’re overseas), it’s important for you to get in touch with us to avoid account suspension or possible disruption to your account. 

Alternatively, if you have a banking relationship manager, they can work with you to verify your identity and assist you in resolving this matter.

If your account has already been suspended or closed, call the number listed on your email or letter and quote your reference number. Any suspensions placed on your account will be lifted once the required information is received.

How we protect you and your accounts

We take the privacy and the protection of customer information seriously. Our team of experts continually monitor accounts and cards 24 hours, seven days a week to help protect you from suspicious activity. We have put extra controls in place to monitor and prevent unauthorised access.

NAB ensures that third parties we appoint as our contractors or agents, including those located overseas, meet the NAB Group’s privacy policies and obligations. We use up-to-date electronic security systems such as firewalls and data encryption to protect our websites and online platforms from potential security breaches.

Learn how we handle your personal information

Learn more about data breach support