Commerce Commission takes Westpac to task over CCCFA breaches

The Commerce Commission has filed proceedings against Westpac for alleged CCCFA breaches. Photo / John Weekes

The Commerce Commission has filed proceedings against Westpac NZ for allegedly breaching lender responsibility principles.

The commission alleges multiple failures by the bank, which meant customers did not receive legally required information about their loans and, in some cases, agreed interest rate discounts.

A Westpac NZ spokesperson said it has admitted the breaches in the proceeding and fully co-operated with the commission’s investigation.

“The matter relates to historical issues with some Westpac products which we identified and self-reported to the Commerce Commission in early 2022.

“We worked promptly to close the identified compliance gaps, and we are in the final stages of completing remediation for customers as applicable.

“Westpac and the Commerce Commission are aligned in their views on the appropriate penalty, and it is not expected to have an impact on our 2H25 results.”

Vanessa Horne, Commerce Commission general manager, competition, fair trading and credit, said the commission expects banks to invest in robust compliance practices to ensure they are complying with the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA).

She said banks’ failure to do so can have a detrimental impact on their customers and deprive people of crucial information they are entitled to.

The commission said it believes Westpac failed to invest in adequate systems and processes to ensure it complied with its CCCFA obligations.

The High Court will determine a penalty in due course.

In May, Westpac was fined $3.25 million for misleading customers over advertised discounts resulting in 24,621 customers being overcharged a combined $6.35m.

The bank had admitted its conduct after civil proceedings were brought by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) last year.