NAB moves to settle class action
National Australia Bank has moved to settle a multi-million-dollar class action over unfair fees.
NAB and law firm Maurice Blackburn lodged an application in the Federal Court on Friday to open and close the class action, signalling that they are working to settle the matter.
The bank today described the move as “a first but significant step” towards a potential settlement.
“NAB is doing this because we believe this is the right thing to do for our customers and our business,” chief executive Andrew Thorburn said in a statement.
The action could see NAB pay out up $40 million to around 30,000 customers, according to the Herald Sun.
The class action is one of a string of legal actions undertaken by Maurice Blackburn against Australian banks, including ANZ, Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank, over unfair fees.
Earlier in 2014, the Federal Court ruled ANZ had illegally imposed penalties for late payments on credit cards.
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Those charges – made when a customer missed a minimum credit bill payment – were either $20 or $35, representing a mark-up of up to 7000 per cent on actual costs of as low as 50 cents.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank executives are set to face a shareholder backlash at today’s AGM over the bank’s financial planning scandal.
Shareholder First Super has indicated it will vote against the re-election of two Commonwealth Bank directors in protest over the scandal, in which customer funds were lost due to misconduct.
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne is also standing for election to the board, arguing for improved corporate governance.
