Nov 30, 2021
Westpac: Australia bank pays out over charging dead people
Australian banking giant Westpac has admitted to breaking the law after it was hit with six lawsuits by regulators over its poor treatment of customers, including charging fees to dead people. ASIC, Australia's corporate watchdog, said one of the six investigations found the bank had charged more than $7m in fees over a 10-year period to more than 11,000 "Deceased customers for financial advice services that were not provided due to their death." "In each of these matters, Westpac has fallen short of our standards and the standards our customers expect of us."The issues raised in these matters should not have occurred, and our processes, systems and monitoring should have been better. We are putting things right and unreservedly apologise to our customers," Westpac chief executive Peter King said in a statement. The previous year, Westpac's then-chief executive Brian Hartzer stepped down after the bank became embroiled in the money-laundering scandal.
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