Australian regulator sues ANZ over alleged overstatement of credit card balances
(Reuters) -Australia’s market regulator stated on Monday it had commenced civil penalty proceedings in opposition to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for allegedly deceptive its prospects over their bank card accounts.
About 165,750 ANZ shoppers have been charged money advance charges and curiosity for withdrawing or transferring cash from their bank card accounts between Could 2016 and November 2018, primarily based on incorrect account balances, the regulator stated in a press release.
The Australian Securities and Investments Fee (ASIC) stated that in some circumstances, single prospects have been charged hundreds of {dollars} in charges.
“This alleged misconduct is the results of system errors inside ANZ and an absence of effort to comprehensively repair these points,” stated ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Courtroom.
ANZ stated it was contemplating the issues raised by ASIC.
“ASIC’s claims relate to a selected scenario, the place funds are deposited to place a bank card account right into a credit score steadiness, and a money advance is subsequently made on the account drawing down on the credit score steadiness earlier than the deposit is processed,” ANZ stated in a press release.
Though the lender has remediated over A$10 million ($7 million) to prospects who have been affected up till 17 November 2018, ASIC stated it’s in search of orders from the court docket to remediate prospects who’ve been wrongly charged since 2018.
($1 = 1.3968 Australian {dollars})
(Reporting by Upasana Singh in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Lincoln Feast.)
