Australians have another layer of protection when online banking, with the rollout of a new name-matching service, called Confirmation of Payee.

From Wednesday, customers transferring money to a new account will be alerted if the name they’ve entered doesn’t match the name registered to the other account.

Previously, if the wrong name was typed in, the payment would still go through.

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It’s a feature designed to crack down on one of the most common and costly types of scams, which is known as payment redirection.

Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh said this technology is crucial to driving scam losses down even further.

“This is critical new technology that will help protect a customer from transferring money straight into the hands of a scammer,” she said.

“When the rollout is complete, Australia will be one of only a handful of countries to have this technology in place across the entire banking sector, ensuring customers are protected regardless of who they bank with.”

The new service is part of a $100 million upgrade under the Scam-Safe Accord, with all major banks on board.

Industry-wide coverage is expected in the coming months.

A national campaign, called ‘Check the Name. Spot the Scam’ has also launched, to help raise awareness.

Australians lost a staggering $2 billion to scams last year and redirection scams alone cost victims more than $150 million.

Results from overseas show this new technology works.

The UK reported a 30 per cent drop in invoice and investment scams after using a similar feature.

The Netherlands saw a 67 per cent drop in misdirected payments and an 81 per cent reduction in impersonation fraud.