Australian court rules ANZ Bank late fees too high
ANZ faces multimillion dollar payout to thousands of customers for exorbitant fees
One of Australia’s largest banks faces a multimillion dollar payout to thousands of customers after a judge ruled on Wednesday that late payment fees it charged on credit cards were exorbitant.
ANZ Banking Group partially lost a class action law suit in the Australian Federal Court brought by more than 43,000 customers who claimed they had been charged excessive fees for years. In some cases the fees were 70 times the cost to the bank of administering late payments.
We felt it was a fair fee at the time. We are now getting a different perspective on that as a result of what the courts have determined
Justice Michelle Gordon ruled that the bank had been illegally imposing penalties for late payments on credit cards.
She agreed with lead plaintiff Lucio Paciocco’s argument that the fees were “extravagant, exorbitant and unconscionable,” and represented a breach of contract.
But she also ruled in ANZ’s favour by dismissing claims that other types of bank fees were illegal penalties.
It was not clear how much the bank would have to pay back customers who had been charged too much over six years. Lawyers for the bank and customers have until next week to agree on a proposal for repaying customers that the court can rule on.
ANZ chief executive Philip Chronican said he was still reviewing the judgment, and its implications were unclear.