NAB Pushes Competitors To Rethink Bank Fees
Posted July 30th, 2009
and last modified May 5th, 2011
With the announcement of NAB’s surprise move to scrap overdraft fees other Australian banks now feel the pressure to follow suit. The move by the Australian National Bank was welcomed by consumer groups after the announcement was made public.
Banks under fire to follow suit and scrap bank fees
As was expected, other Australian banks are not pressured to follow suit to keep their ‘face’ with consumers. As Australian households pay in excess of $961 million in fees each year, many had enough and want out for these exorbitant charges.
The Commonwealth Bank has already made a statement yesterday to make a significant reduction in fees in the area of bank fees. ANZ is also aware of the public concern about these fees and was currently analysing their options while Westpac stated it had been reviewing its fee structure for some time.
CANSTAR CANNEX, the financial research and ratings firm thinks more banks were likely to follow suit. Many have already been dealing with negative publicity over penalty fees for customers who go ”into the red” and thanks to the move by NAB they are feeling the pressure to act.
CANSTAR CANNEX financial analyst Peter Arnold said: ‘The move by NAB to axe this fee is a step in the right direction and we expect more banks to follow suit‘
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was good that one of the banks was starting ‘To do the right thing‘. He also said: ”But you know something, there is a long, long way still to go in terms of what banks are doing for their customers.”
According to the Consumer Action Law Centre, the ANZ is now the only major bank charging these fees on its concession accounts. Concession card holders are charged an overdrawn fee of $10 and normal account holders pay $35 for going over the limit.
Westpac charges $40, Commonwealth Bank $30-$35, while St. George charge $38-$45 depending on the card.
Since the launch of the Fair Fees campaign two years ago by the consumer advocates tens of thousands of disgruntled bank customers had downloaded a complaint letter from their website to challenge their bank about unjust bank fees.
Source: Canberra Times
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