Advocates hopeful but wary of banks' pledge to stop abusive e-transfers

The murder of an Ontario woman has sparked action from Canada's financial sector, but activists pushing to end intimate partner violence say banks need to do more to protect survivors.

The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA), a lobby group, and Interac, which runs the e-transfer service, both confirmed they are now pursuing technology to prevent their platforms from being used to perpetuate abuse.

"It wasn't until they kind of have their feet held to the fire a little bit more that they're actually going to take this action," said Renee Buczel, co-chair of Angie's Angels, a group in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., dedicated to ending intimate partner violence.

"I think it's amazing that something good will come from such a tragic situation. And I think it's about time that the banks and Interac stepped up," Buczel said.

Hours before Angie Sweeney was murdered by her ex in October, he had sent her multiple abusive messages through e-transfers, using their "optional message" feature. She had blocked him on every other messaging platform.

After CBC News reported on Sweeney's e-transfers, more Canadians came forward saying they, too, had been victimized by abusive messages attached to e-transfers, often for extremely small sums of money, as little as one cent.  

On the evening of May 7, Women's Shelters Canada and the Canadian Center for Women's Empowerment (CCWE) sent a co-authored letter to the CEOs of Canada's five largest banks, the CBA and Interac. It demanded they take action to stop abusive e-transfers and pointed to two readily available solutions in other countries.  

Both national women's organizations advocate to policymakers and private industry for better supports for people experiencing gender-based violence.

One solution suggested in the letter is an AI-based program developed by the Commonwealth Bank in Australia and made free for all other banks worldwide. It filters abusive keywords and prevent those messages from being sent. The other is a program launched last year by Starling Bank in the U.K., which allows users to block messages attached to payments from specific people.

The CBA sent a statement to CBC News on Wednesday on behalf of its members, which include the five biggest banks: TD, Scotiabank, BMO, RBC and CIBC. It said its members are "in the process of reviewing how technology could be deployed to combat financially abusive behavior in line with local legal, privacy and operational requirements." It also said it would start a dialogue with the two women's organizations.

Interac also sent a statement saying it was actively working on a "made-in-Canada" solution to the problem. It said it had dedicated a team "to work with our financial institution partners to implement a reporting mechanism through the Interac e-transfer notification." It also said it would explore the use of "blocking" technology for keywords.

"Oftentimes, with gender-based violence, people put out these statements and then it takes years for something to happen," said Rhiannon Wong, with Women's Shelters Canada.

Wong said it is too soon to tell whether any actions will actually follow the industry statements, adding that her organization had not yet been contacted by the CBA. However, she is hopeful they will begin to tackle the issue.

"Financial abuse takes many different forms," Wong said. "I think e-transfers is one step, but we'd like to see all of the banks support survivors of all types of financial abuse, with different types of accounts or support, and quick action in that way."