ASB Bank Limited has been fined $2.1 million for breaching fair dealing rules in its insurance products and banking services.
ASB self-reported making false or misleading representations, causing customer financial harm through the incorrect application of multi-policy discounts on its branded insurance products and failure to apply fee exemptions for eligible FastNet business customers.
According to the Financial Markets Authority, this led to ASB refunding approximately $4.7 million to more than 25,000 affected customers.
Margot Gatland, head of enforcement at the Financial Markets Authority, said the penalty underscored the “seriousness of ASB’s systems failures.”
“Customers are entitled to rely on their bank to apply discounts and fee exemptions accurately. ASB’s failed to detect and address these issues over many years.”
While Gatland acknowledged ASB’s cooperation, she emphasised that the prolonged failings and delays in detection and escalation warranted a strong regulatory response.
Meanwhile, Adam Boy, ASB’s executive general manager for personal banking, said the bank self-reported both issues to the Financial Markets Authority in 2021 and fully refunded affected customers, including interest payments.
“We apologise once again to these customers,” he said. “
“We have made changes to our processes, including working closely with our insurance partner in relation to the multi-policy discount matter, to prevent these issues happening in the future.”
“Putting things right where we have made mistakes is important to us.”