Major banks in Australia will refund over \$93 million to low-income customers who were wrongly charged excessive fees, following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
ASIC announced that around 770,000 low-income customers—many of whom were eligible for reduced banking fees due to receiving Centrelink payments or government concessions—will be refunded \$60 million.
This action is part of ASIC’s broader effort to hold banks accountable for charging high fees to customers who can least afford them.
According to ASIC Chair Joe Longo, while banks have made some improvements during the regulator’s surveillance, more needs to be done. “It should not take an ASIC review to force \$93 million in refunds,” he said.
ASIC’s previous report found that banks had kept at least two million low-income Australians, reliant on government assistance, in high-fee accounts.
The latest review expanded to cover more banks and revealed even larger numbers of affected customers, including many First Nations Australians.
ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland stated that as a result of the latest review, the total amount of bank refunds has nearly tripled to \$93 million, with over one million customers now shifted to low-fee accounts—saving them an estimated \$50 million annually.
Products, policies, and responses varied across the 21 banks reviewed, with three banks from the initial report—ANZ, Westpac, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank—now committing to refund fees to a broader group of eligible low-income customers.
Following this latest review, over 920,000 low-income Australians are expected to receive refunds, offering long-overdue financial relief.
