Westpac told but did not listen

Westpac copped a warning from the Australian Communications and Media Authority over what the regulator described as prohibited telemarketing calls.

In a media release yesterday ACMA said it received more complaints about Westpac than about any other bank.

Westpac or its agents made telemarketing calls to customers on the Do Not Call register, a register established in 2006 and designed to spare households the annoyance of unwanted outbound marketing by business.

ACMA said that while Westpac's calls were to its own customers the regulator's investigation found that the bank's procedures for recording the withdrawal of consent failed, and subsequent telemarketing calls were made to these consumers despite the withdrawal of their consent.

Westpac's marketing slogan these days is "you told us and we listened", which must be a recent development.

ACMA said remediation by Westpac included checking all calling lists against the register, including the telephone numbers of existing customers.