Westpac Banking (ASX:WBC, NZE:WBC) said its New Zealand arm increased fraud prevention by 11% for the six months ended March 31, helping cut customer losses to scams and fraud by 14% year on year, Westpac NZ said in a statement Monday.

The bank blocked, recovered, or reimbursed NZ$9 for every NZ$10 of fraud and scam attempts over the past six months, thanks to continued investment in technologies such as biometric software and dynamic security codes, the bank said.

The bank's shares were up almost 1% in New Zealand in recent Tuesday trade.