National Australia Bank (NAB) has been fined $1.4 million ($2.1 million AUD) by the Australian Federal Court for charging customers periodic payments fees without a right to do so.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) stated that the bank wrongfully charged 2,888 personal account holders and 513 business accounts between January 2017 and July 2018. NAB charged these accounts on 74,593 occasions, taking $139,845 AUD.
Sarah Court, ASIC deputy chair, stated: "If systems have let customers down, we expect all financial institutions, especially our banks, to act quickly to reduce consumer harm.”
The bank has since repaid over $8.3 million AUD to the account holders unlawfully charged, acknowledging that “some customers were incorrectly charged for periodical payment fees several years ago" to Reuters.
ASIC previously sued NAB for overcharging customers for misplaced fees in 2021, stating that the bank wrongfully took funds from accounts from 2015 to 2019.