Commonwealth Bank to refund AUD 7.6m to agribusiness customers
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is to refund AUD 7.6m ($5.5m) to around 8,400 customers, after it failed to apply fee waivers and benefits to one of its agribusiness products for a number of years. This error came to light when the bank revealed it to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in 2014, as part of its reporting obligations in the Corporations Act.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia will refund $7.6 million to thousands of agribusiness customers slugged with unfair fees on one of the bank's products. A statement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission says CBA has agreed to repay 8400 customers after failing to properly administer the bank's AgriAdvantage Plus package over several years. When Commonwealth Bank reports its annual results on August 10, a focal point for many investors will be its profit margins. Credit: Michael Clayton-Jones CBA is not the first major Australian bank to run into trouble over charging incorrect fees on products. In April, ANZ issued a statement, saying it would pay 8500 customers who purchased a bundled financing planning product, Prime Access, about $30 million in compensation.

In July, National Australia Bank said it would repay 62,000 customers of its wealth division $25 million after short-changing clients. CBA's AgriAdvantage problems come as the bank works through its compensation program for clients of its financial planning arms. So far, only 19 of the 8835 customers who have requested their files be reviewed have been compensated by CBA for receiving poor financial advice. The bank had also compensated 1100 customers who were victims of rogue planners, paying out $52 million.



ASIC says CBA has advised the regulator of "its intention to undertake an investigation, engage an independent expert to review its remediation process to ensure an accurate calculation of refunds, and refund all affected customers". ASIC did not detail how long it would take CBA's AgriAdvantage customers to receive bank compensation.