NAB refunds almost $35 million to 220,000 entitled customers

National Bank Australia has refunded the 220,000 superannuation customers with nearly $35 million for incorrectly charging them. The eligible customers who could receive the refund were those charged between September 2012 and October 2016. In addition, the bank has repaid $2 million to 10 members with life insurance that were declined from May 2013 to July 2015.

“Our intention with the proactive restructuring of our corporate super products and the upgrade of insurance products was to do the right thing by our customers. However, we didn’t execute the change well and we’re sorry to those customers affected,” NAB acting wealth products manager Garry Mulcahy said in a statement.

On Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) imposed extra licence conditions on NULIS -- NAB's superannuation trustee. The condition required the engagement of ASIC-approved independent expert with NULIS in assessing and reporting the adequacy in terms of its risk management practice and compliance for the retail and wrap superannuation funds. Bankwest, Westpac and ANZ made refunds due to banking stuff-ups.

On Wednesday, Bankwest refunded more than $5 million in mortgage interest payments. The refund was made after almost a decade as the bank overcharged almost 10,800 offset account customers. The offset account functioned to link a savings account to a home loan account. When the two accounts were properly linked, the balance on the loan account would be offset reducing the interest payable. However, if it was not properly linked, the customer would be charged with interest, based on the full loan amount.

In September 2016, Westpac refunded $20 million to almost 820,000 customers after failing to disclose to them which credit card transactions had attracted foreign transaction fees. The bank notified ASIC about the bank issue after a customer complaint. According to Westpac's report, the customers may have been wrongly charged on the fees for transactions processed by international companies. The bank's terms and conditions were not clear to state that the foreign transaction fees would be charged for Australian dollar transactions.

“It is essential for consumers to know when fees will be charged, so that they can make an informed decision when using financial products and services,” ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell said in a statement.

ANZ has refunded $29 million to more than 390,000 accounts in September after the bank failed to disclose when certain fees for periodical payment would apply. Periodical payments were direct debit arrangements alternative. In 2015, the Commonwealth Bank refunded $80 million to 216,000 customers after failure to apply fee waivers and other benefits to customers.