Commonwealth Bank

Online romance scams are on the rise and scammers will often go to great lengths to convince you that the relationship is real. As our branch manager Sam Bazzi found out recently, online scammers can be convincing.   “I recently had an experience with a customer who had been sending money overseas, they wanted to send $35,000 to an overseas account. This was flagged by someone on our team as it looked suspicious. It’s a common occurrence with romance scams for the scammer to request urgent funds and in this case, the scammer had asked for funds to medically evacuate their sick daughter, who was stranded in another country, as they could not access their own accounts. The customer trusted this person completely and had been talking with them online for a while with numerous promises of holidays and gifts. In circumstances like this, it’s critical that we show customers empathy and understanding to help support them when they may have been scammed. I was able to educate them on the risk of scams and what to look out for in the future by sharing similar stories. I’m so glad that we were able to help save this customer from losing some of her life savings on such a scam.” Always remember to Stop🛑, Check🔎 and Reject❌ anything that looks suspicious. 

Did you know that more than 80% of Aussies think the community should be more involved in policy decisions, with most feeling they’re not being listened to on issues they care about? That’s why today we are excited to announce our partnership with AMPLIFY. AMPLIFY is a grassroots, non-partisan and completely independent organisation bringing together people from all walks of life to find uncommon ground on the issues the community cares about most. It will host events, facilitate online conversations and come up with community-led initiatives which will be amplified to politicians to help identify solutions to drive real positive change for all Australians. Head to the comments to find out more, including how you can join for free 👇

We first set up shop in Stanthorpe in the local post office in 1872. 152 years later and we’re still here, helping the local community with all of their banking needs.

“I get excited thinking about what the next major transformation at CommBank will look like. I am lucky enough to be in a position to be able to visualise it and actually shape it. Today we live in a world of extremely fast and widespread internet connections, high performance cloud- and edge-computing solutions, and unprecedented AI capabilities, which create new opportunities for us to enhance and expand our service offerings. My role as a Distinguished AI scientist is about using Artificial Intelligence to protect our customers against a continuously evolving threat landscape and making sure we use AI in a safe, secure and trustworthy way.   I have always been curious and loved dealing with complex and dynamic systems. I love the challenge of implementing mechanisms in a system that can improve its performance when facing unpredictable or unknown situations. Here at CommBank through using various machine learning models, we are working to optimise and streamline our capabilities, processes, and service offering in several different ways. We use the power of language models to analyse data and serve up relevant information quickly meaning our machines can do the heavy lifting while our teams can focus on solving real, impactful problems ultimately delivering a more positive experience for our customers and communities.   With a desire to consistently deliver great experiences for our customers and communities we need to keep innovating, so setting a clear vision and strategy allows our people the opportunity to experiment and learn new ways of transforming our business. It is the ability to harnessing the power of AI to transform the way we work, the way we bank and the way we live, that I love doing what I do.”   Ashkan x CommBank  Distinguished AI Scientist

“Rewards and recognition allow you to get traction. Now a year on since winning ‘Emerging Leader in Tech’ at the Women's Agenda Leadership Awards 2023, we’ve been privileged with a far bigger platform and access to opportunities we may not have had otherwise. At last year’s awards, I walked in not knowing anybody, but straight away I knew it was going to be a fun night. There was such an impressive line-up of nominees, so just to be around that calibre of women was incredible. There were scientists, technologists, and women who wouldn’t necessarily see themselves as innovators or entrepreneurs in the traditional sense, but they absolutely are because they’re solving issues that move society forward. My volunteer role with #TechDiversity is all about creating a workforce in the technology sector that is representative of society and the importance of doing that given tech is prevalent in all our lives. It’s funny because the work that I do in the diversity and inclusion space is relatively new, even though I’ve been a part of it for 20-plus years. It just shows it’s never too late. Winning the award means a lot to me personally, but really it’s a win for our team. It affirms our work and purpose, especially because everyone in the organisation is so passionate about what we do.” Sponsored again by CommBank Women in Focus, the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards are back for 2024. Luli Adeyemo, Executive Director, TechDiversity, winner of ‘Emerging Leader in Tech’ in 2023, and this year’s event night MC, shares why the awards are so impactful for finalists and winners. Do you know an incredible female leader who deserves some recognition? Nominate or enter yourself by 21 August – link the first comment. #CBAWomeninFocus

“Although my background isn’t in tech, I pivoted because I was really fascinated when I first read about blockchain technology. I just read kilos and kilos of papers, because I was curious and eager to learn more about it. The potential for collaboration this technology opens up changes the way that you, for example, run a business, run a company, interact with the world as a consumer. It’s incredibly exciting to be part of. It's been a journey for me to get to where I am today in my career. But the first time I went down the blockchain rabbit hole, read about distributed computing, and thought about different computers being able to interact with each other rather than being in silos, the penny dropped for me. It changed the direction of my career completely.” Sophie Gilder, Managing Director, Blockchain & Digital Assets, CommBank speaks with Shivani Gopal on the Leading Women podcast. Get to know her journey and how she’s creating more pathways for women and girls in the world of tech.   #CBAWomeninFocus

“There’s a lot of research that shows Australia is at risk of not having the technology workforce we need by 2030.    CommBank’s community skilling program is one of the ways we’re helping to enhance the digital skills and capability of Australians. Laying the foundations for their future financial wellbeing and ensuring the nation will be able to remain economically prosperous.    In addition, we’re hoping to inspire and encourage more women to pursue a career in tech by providing exposure to pathways and skill development.     By fostering diversity in tech we can help create a future that reflects and serves everyone.”     Kathryn x CommBank 

“Launceston is such a fantastic place to live, the local community is very tight-knit, and we have incredible produce, a great hospitality scene and a vast number of businesses that all support our local industries. The thing I enjoy the most about my job is being able to help customers achieve their dreams, whether that’s starting up a brand-new business or expanding their current business. Living in a small town of 70,000 people, like Launceston, means I really get to know my customers and their journey. One of the greatest joys of my job is visiting a customer on their opening weekend and seeing them flourish or visiting a new coffee shop and knowing that I played a role in getting their business up and running.” Daniel Walker Business Banker – Launceston, Tasmania

“Blak Tapas has been a labour of love for me.  Sustainability has been top of mind for me from the beginning. I source from local producers where possible to reduce our carbon footprint and I’ve always used reusable, compostable packaging. I’d always liked creating grazing boards for friends, so the idea was to build on something I already enjoyed and that I knew people liked. I started selling boxes of meats, cheeses and fruits for events within the Kununurra community. I wanted to focus on native foods and after testing bush foods out on friends, I started offering crocodile smallgoods, kangaroo dishes and other native ingredients. After a lot of hard work, I was able to leave my job in 2023 to focus on growing Blak Tapas. We also take catering leftovers to a local community kitchen to feed people in need; there’s never only one way to be sustainable, it’s about thinking and evolving where you can and asking ‘How can we do it better?’’ Temali Howard Owner of Blak Tapas   Learn more about Temali’s story and Small Business tips in The Brighter Magazine in the comments below. 

“The thing that I love the most about my role within the bank and refereeing is that sense of community and the opportunity to develop new skills. I never thought that I would end up in banking, I moved from Macedonia to Australia in 2012 and started out my career at the bank as a teller in 2016, 8 years after entering the banking world and I still enjoy every day of it. I’ve also been a football referee for 20 years now and have the pleasure of being on the Football Australia Match Officials Panel. When I started refereeing, I faced some challenges, like with many things in life, people will tell you that you’re not good enough. It’s ok to fail, as long as we learn from it. The feeling of success after failure is so much better. CommBank is really supportive and over the last 8 years I’ve been able to juggle my work life with my personal life. There’s a lot of opportunity within the bank to develop your career and skills and I feel lucky to be able to work both on and off the football field and to be a part of a company which helps to provide more opportunities for young people in football. From helping community clubs to sponsoring the CommBank Matildas, there’s a lot that we do, and for someone like me who’s so invested in football it makes working so much more enjoyable.” Andrej Giev Manager, Cash Risk and Securities Image Credit: Andrej Giev’s Archive