ASIC sues Westpac over hardship notice failures
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The news: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is suing Westpac, alleging it broke credit laws by not responding to distressed customers' financial hardship notices.
The numbers: ASIC has alleged that between 2015 and 2022, a deficiency with Westpac’s online process resulted in 229 Westpac customers not receiving a response to their hardship notice within the required timeframe of 21 days.
The context: ASIC says hundreds of customers told the bank they were unable to meet their repayments and outlined their circumstances, but alleges Westpac’s systems were not robust enough to ensure it responded to customers’ with alternative repayment arrangements within the required 21 days. “In some cases, stressed customers had endured debt collection activities by Westpac while waiting for the bank to respond,” it said.
In a separate statement to the ASX, Westpac said it had identified the incident, and self-reported it to ASIC. It blamed technology failures for not acknowledging the customers notices but apologised for the error.
The sources: ASIC Statement, ASX Statement
