The Commerce Commission has filed criminal charges against Kiwibank Limited (Kiwibank), alleging "longstanding, systematic" breaches of the Fair Trading Act.
In a statement, the Commission said the breaches relate to issues that resulted in more than $7 million being incorrectly charged to over 36,000 customers for fees and interest rates in relation to home loans, credit cards and overdrafts, over a period of several years.
Commerce Commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said Kiwibank has been contacting customers impacted and is progressively refunding about $7 million in overcharges.
Are you one of the people affected? Get in touch at: news@tvnz.co.nz.
Callinan said these are "serious charges, stemming from multiple errors in Kiwibank's manual and electronic systems".
"In the Commission's view these are longstanding, systemic breaches of the Fair Trading Act some of which date back to Kiwibank's inception in 2002," Callinan said.
"Lenders must have processes in place to ensure consumers are getting a fair deal and are charged what was advertised to them.
"The Commission expects banks to make the necessary investment in the systems that support their compliance obligations so they get things right for consumers.
The Commission's charges relate specifically to overcharging from 2019 onwards.
"As this case is now before the Court, the Commission cannot comment further."
Kiwibank responds
In a statement to 1News, Kiwibank confirmed it had reported breaches of the Fair Trading Act to the Commerce Commission.
It was "a result of the work we've undertaken to proactively seek out, investigate, and resolve issues where errors have been made".
"Kiwibank has fully co-operated with the Commerce Commission's investigation and carried out a remediation programme for affected customers," a spokesperson said.
"All remediations will be completed by the end of this year, if not complete already.
"Our priority throughout this process has been to make things right for our customers, and we are disappointed that we have let some of our customers down with these historic issues."
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