ANZ refunds $22 million to credit card customers

Thousands of Australians who hold credit cards with ANZ have been refunded hundreds of dollars on average. Here’s why.

ANZ has delivered refunds worth $22 million to tens of thousands of credit card customers after overcharging on annual fees.

Customers received an average $314 each – with some paid more than $1000 – because the bank failed to provide annual account fee waivers between 2015 and 2018 to people who were eligible for them through ANZ’s Breakfree Package.

It’s the latest in a long line of refunds from financial institutions flowing from overcharged mortgage interest, fees, processing errors, financial advice and other issues.

A majority of refunds have related to financial advisers charging fees for no service, a practice that shocked the nation during the financial services royal commission in 2018.

ANZ is delivering refunds worth $22 million to tens of thousands of credit card customers after overcharging on annual fees. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

A recent report by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed six of the biggest financial institutions – CBA, NAB, Westpac, ANZ, AMP and Macquarie – have refunded or offered customers $1.86 billion for fee-for-no-service misconduct or non-compliant advice.

In the past few years hundreds of thousands of mortgage customers of the big banks have received refunds for mortgage mistakes, including Westpac last year refunding thousands of borrowers for home loan processing errors dating back a decade.

An ANZ spokesman said fixing past mistakes was “an important focus” for the bank, and its new batch of refunds had gone to 70,000 Breakfree package credit card customers.

ANZ has issued other refunds in recent years across its retail banking network.

“From April 2018 to September 2020 we remediated about 2.9 million customer accounts and issued refunds of about $223 million across our Australian retail and commercial business,” the spokesman said.

“For impacted customers we will make payments into open accounts wherever possible. If a customer has left the bank and has no remaining bank accounts with ANZ, then we make payments by cheque or via a refund portal.

“We apologise for the issues and have taken steps to rectify them through a dedicated team that has the resources to carry out this important and sometimes complex work.”

Queensland Consumers Association spokesman Ian Jarratt said the royal commission had delivered huge benefits to bank customers by uncovering poor practices.

“It put them on notice and brought it to the public’s attention,” he said.

“They are more conscious of the need to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and if it did happen in the past, to right the wrong.”

Mr Jarratt said people should “not necessarily rely on the financial institution” to contact them about potential refunds, as some customers might have switched banks and addresses. People who believed they could be owed a refund should check for themselves, he said.