Periodic refunds an ANZ habit
ANZ will refund around A$32 million to customers (including interest) for fees wrongly applied on select periodic payments.ASIC and ANZ yesterday outlined what both the bank and regulator termed as "unclear fee disclosures".This is at least the fourth round of customer compensation paid by ANZ since early 2015 related to controversies over the administration by the bank on retail accounts.In the latest instance, "the issue relates to fees being charged for periodical payments to a customer's own accounts," according to ANZ's version.ASIC presented the problem as one of the bank having "failed to clearly disclose when certain periodical payment fees would apply."?The corporate regulator said ANZ "discovered that it was charging fees on payments made between accounts held in the customer's own name, contrary to its definition of a 'periodical payment'."It said ANZ "subsequently reported the matter to ASIC as a significant breach of its financial services obligations."The matter affected around 390,000 accounts with an average fee refund of less than $50, ANZ said.The bank said it had "already refunded around $11 million to 192,000 accounts."In April 2015, ANZ said it would be "reimbursing some Prime Access (financial planning) clients after it identified the documented annual review, part of a package of services, had not been provided."In August 2015, ANZ said it would allow holders of expired travel cards to claim refunds.In March 2016 ANZ said that since February 2013 it had paid out compensation of approximately $4.5 million, via payments made to around 1.3 million OnePath (wealth management) customers. At the time, ASIC pointed out the bank faced costs for "rectifications and other remediation of approximately $49 million."