Caught out again...nothing but a bunch of thieves.
ANZ to refund $5 million to 25,000 low-income customers including pensioners and Centrelink recipients
Date March 30, 2016
ANZ will refund $5 million to 25,000 vulnerable, low-income customers with basic bank accounts after it charged incorrect late-payment and over-limit fees during seven years.
ANZ failed to properly apply fee reductions and waivers to customers who held both an ANZ Access Basic account and an ANZ consumer credit card or ANZ Everyday Visa Debit card, according to a statement by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.
The fees included over-limit and late-payment fees on consumer credit cards and overdrawn fees on Everyday Visa Debit cards.
The refund program comes as ANZ is subject to a class action over late fees it charges on credit cards that has made its way to the High Court
ANZ's Access Basic account is available to customers who meet the criteria, which include holding a Seniors Concession card, Pensioner Concession card, Centrelink Health Care card or a Repatriation Health card.
ANZ has begun contacting affected customers to explain the error and the refund in a process the bank plans to complete by the end of April.
"We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and assure our customers we have fixed the processing error that caused the issue," an ANZ spokesman said.
The refund program is yet another embarrassing banking gaffe for the financial services giant.
ANZ this month was forced to set up an independent review of its insurance and superannuation arm, OnePath, after a series of breaches affecting 1,300,000 customers, some of whom had their super paid into the wrong account for up to a year.
ANZ self-reported the most recent breach to ASIC as it is obliged to do under the Corporations Act.
The refunds to affected customers also include an additional amount of interest.
Some customers will receive a refund to cover the overpayment of credit card insurance premiums resulting from the impact of the errors on their account balances.
According to ASIC, ANZ's failure was the result of a breakdown between the bank's automatic and manual processes and the lack of reliability of some of ANZ's manual processes and controls.
"ANZ's Access Basic account is specifically designed for low-income consumers who are unable to pay high fees," ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said.
"This matter highlights the importance of appropriately managing manual processes to apply fee waivers and discounts, and designing and maintaining robust systems to support such features," Mr Kell said.
ANZ has since changed its systems, says ASIC.