Customers unfairly charged high fees to share $60m in refunds

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Banking customers across Australia - who have been unfairly charged high fees - are set to receive refunds totalling 60 million dollars. CommBank and its Bankwest subsidiary is refusing to pay 270 million dollars in refunds. It comes a year after the corporate watchdog found four of the country's banks - which had a significant number of First Nations customers - had caused 'financial distress.' Veronica Johnson is a senior financial counsellor with Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation.

Transcript

00:00It's really quite distressing to think that a lot of the people are on a Centrelink benefit

00:09with very few working. They are in multiple accounts paying excessive fees and I think

00:18the banks could really do better. We're talking about some of the richest banks in Australia

00:26making billions of dollars in fees and we're talking about the most vulnerable people in

00:32Australia who are very low income and as I said some of them could be in multiple accounts paying

00:39excessive fees and I think the banks could really do better. Well how can people, Veronica, find out

00:48if they are due a refund? Will the bank contact them or do they have to be proactive and contact

00:55the bank or contact you? Well they should be making a better communication right across.

01:02There are limited resources in remote communities such as lack of you know sometimes fines, internet

01:11access, the mail is very you know Australia Post so the opportunity for clients to be able to

01:23to get information is limited so therefore the banks could be communicating a little bit better

01:31as to you know whether they could be illegible or just to even contact the bank to see if they are

01:36illegible. Have you heard from Indigenous bank customers about this Veronica? Have they been in

01:41touch with you for help? Absolutely and we have you know our financial abuse

01:48fees is something that we have to deal with on a daily basis we're forever cancelling cards and

01:57you know ordering new cards for the most vulnerable. I know of one client that was homeless

02:06and she just had a few dollars left in her bank account and she goes to the bank and of course that's taken

02:13up by fees so you know we're talking about the most vulnerable that can least afford to pay for these

02:20excessive fees and so the banks should really toe the line and do the right thing. You are making billions

02:26of dollars every single year so how about assisting the most vulnerable and connecting perhaps in language

02:35perhaps more male whichever way or to pass the communication on to financial counsellors that

02:43are in those communities. So have Banks Veronica made other changes for First Nations customers in remote

02:50and regional Australia these include increasing the number of interpreters on helplines which you just

02:56mentioned and cultural awareness training has there been any movement on that? Yes there is but what happens

03:03with say like the Indigenous line is that in some cases the clients that are actually ringing may not

03:10be able to hear and so confidentiality could be possibly compromised and so there just needs to be better

03:20better you know better communication better ways more culturally appropriateness and

03:28um and really you know go a little bit further than just a couple of years maybe go back as far

03:35as 10 years and give people a little bit of money back that they so need and deserve. Veronica Johnson

03:44I think the banks can do a lot better. Very good to talk to you thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much.

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