ANZ Group sanctioned for charging fees from dead customers

ANZ Group has been sanctioned for failing to stop or refund fees for dead customers and for not responding to representatives of customers who have passed away within a required time frame, Australia's Banking Code Compliance Committee said on Tuesday.

The self-regulation body had in June 2023 come out with its Deceased Estates Report, which looks at how banks in Australia had compiled with the required obligations. The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) had then began an investigation into three lenders, including ANZ Group.

"The decision to name ANZ for its non-compliance reflects the seriousness of its code breaches," said Ian Govey AM, chair of the BCCC.

"Naming a bank is a sanction that we reserve for the most serious and systemic breaches."

ANZ has taken over a year to implement solutions and nearly a couple of years to begin its customer remediation program despite first identifying the issue in early 2022.

The customer remediation program is still ongoing and is expected to be finalised by the end of July.

Govey has further flagged certain concerns with the remediation efforts of ANZ.