NAB cops $16m fine for treatment of customers in financial hardship
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The news: NAB has been ordered to pay a $15.5 million civil penalty by the Federal Court in a case brought by the corporate regulator for not providing written responses to hundreds of notices from customers facing financial hardship.
The context: NAB breached the National Consumer Credit Protection Act by not providing written response notices to 345 hardship notices, submitted between October 2018 and September 2023, within 21 days.
NAB and subsidiary AFSH Nominees (Advantedge) have admitted to breaches of the act and have been ordered to pay the fine.
Proceedings commenced in November 2024. At the time, Australian Securities and Investments Services (ASIC) chair Joe Longo said “NAB’s failures likely compounded the already challenging situation for these people”.
What they said: NAB group executive, customer and corporate services Sharon Cook apologised to the customers they let down and flagged that the bank has made changes to support customers in hardship.
“As part of these changes we have created NAB Care, a dedicated hardship assistance team, hired 70 new colleagues and increased the support options available to our customers,” Cook said.
The sources: ASX, ASIC media release
