Australian regulator has alleged that Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) failed to provide certain benefits it had agreed to give customers.
It has begun civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against the lender and will submit to the court to impose a fine of A$25m ($17.88m) on the lender.
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ANZ Bank introduced a ‘Breakfree package’, which offered fee waivers, interest rate discounts on products such as home loans and credit cards.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has alleged the benefits were not offered to approximately 580,447 customers.
ANZ Bank’s misconduct saw it remediate A$200 million to affected customers.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said: “ANZ’s conduct was long-standing and impacted over half a million customers. These customers were entitled to receive the benefits they signed up for and in many instances paid for. This case is yet another example of a widespread system failure by a major bank impacting thousands of customers.”
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By GlobalDataAdmitting to the contraventions ANZ Bank said that it enhanced its systems and processes to address these issues.
The lender said it will not contest the proceeding and will join ASIC in submitting a proposed penalty.
“While ASIC has not alleged deliberate conduct, ANZ acknowledges its conduct fell short of expectations and has co-operated fully with ASIC during its investigation,” the bank noted.
