Australia News

Westpac Fined $26 Million Over Failure to Respond to Customer Financial Hardship Requests

The bank failed to respond to more than 200 online financial hardship requests within the required timeframe between 2017 and 2023.
Google LogoMark Us Preferred on Google
Westpac Fined $26 Million Over Failure to Respond to Customer Financial Hardship Requests
People walk past ATMs at a regional branch of Westpac bank in Albany, Western Australia, on Nov. 22, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times
Rex Widerstrom
|Updated:
0:00

A Federal Court has fined banking giant Westpac $26 million (US$18.5 million) for seriously breaching the National Credit Code and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act.

The case, brought by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, centred on the bank’s failure to respond to more than 200 online financial hardship requests within the required timeframe, with some customers receiving no response at all.

Google LogoMark Us Preferred on Google
Rex Widerstrom
Rex Widerstrom
Author
Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.