CREDIT CARD FEES – AUSTRALIA

Westpac refunds $20m over credit card transaction fees

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Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Age – Page: 21 : 9-Sep-16

Some 820,000 credit card customers of Westpac will be reimbursed after being charged foreign transaction fees on purchases via offshore merchants that were made in Australian dollars. The banking major has issued about $A20m worth of refunds after the Australian Securities & Investments Commission found that it had neglected to inform customers that such transactions would attract a so-called "foreign transaction fee". Westpac has also updated its terms and conditions.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

ANZ says credit card late fees won’t rise after court win

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 28-Jul-16

Andrew Watson of law firm Maurice Blackburn has warned that banks may increase their credit card late payment fees after the High Court dismissed a class action case. Watson says the Federal Government should step in to protect consumers from unfair fee increases, but the ANZ Bank says such intervention is unnecessary as the court has ruled that its fees are fair. The bank has also ruled out increasing its late payment fees, which it had reduced in 2009. The class action commenced in 2010.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, IMF BENTHAM LIMITED – ASX IMF, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Reserve Bank calls out big banks on high credit card profits

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 20-Aug-15

The Reserve Bank of Australia says interest rates on credit cards, which spiked after the global financial crisis, have remained high despite the fall in the cash rate since then. Advertised rates have risen from 16 per cent eight years ago to about 20 per cent on standard credit cards. It is estimated the "spread" the banks earn on cards above the cost of funding them has risen from about six percentage points in 2007 to nine in the March quarter of 2015.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RETAIL FINANCE INTELLIGENCE PTY LTD