ANZ refunding $29M to customers wrongly charged with periodic payments

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) has started refunding the $29 million it owes to its almost 400,000 wrongly charged customers. Majority of the affected customers will receive less than $50 refund.

On Monday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed that ANZ failed to disclose when certain periodic payments by their customers would apply, and therefore would have to refund $28.8 million to 376,570 retail accounts and 17,230 business accounts. The amount includes around $3 million in interest.

The bank has discovered it was charging fees on payments made between accounts held in the customer’s own name. It has reported the matter to ASIC, and the corporate regulator acknowledged ANZ’s cooperative approach and its handling of the matter.

The fees include 1) non-payment fees charged on personal and commercial accounts when the payment did not proceed because of insufficient funds in an ANZ deposit account, and 2) payment fees charged on commercial accounts processed from an ANZ deposit account.

“When we identify an issue where we haven’t got things right, we will make sure our customers are not left out of pocket,” ANZ Group Executive Australia Fred Ohisson said in a statement. “We proactively reported this matter to ASIC and have been working hard to ensure customers are repaid as soon as possible. We’ve already begun making payments to our customers and expect all customers will be refunded by the end of September.”

Ohisson added his apology to ANZ’s affected customers. Customers with concerns are asked to call 13 13 14 (retail) or 1800 801 485 (business) for answers.