150,000 Customers Join Class Action Lawsuit Against 4 Large Aussie Banks, Citibank

About 150,000 bank customers have filed a $200-million class action lawsuit against the four largest Australian banks and Citibank over bank fees.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the customers by law firm Maurice Blackburn against Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Australia New Zealand Bank. Litigation funder IMF (Australia) funded the class action lawsuit on a no win, no fee basis.

The claimants alleged that the fees collected for overdrawn accounts, late payments and honour and dishonour charges did not reflect the actual cost to the banks, said Andrew Watson, head of class actions of Maurice Blackburn.

The lawsuit seeks to appeal against a decision made by Justice Michelle Gordon in early December that the bank fees could not be categorised as penalty fees.

Citibank charges $40 a month overlimit fee and $10 late fee weekly, disclosed James Middleweek, Maurice Blackburn managing director of financial redress.

"These class actions are about bringing fairness to tens of thousands of Australians, from mums and dads to small business owners who have all been hit with exorbitant fees from major banks," News.com.au quoted Mr Watson.