Hooker said there could be tens or hundreds of thousands of Kiwis still eligible to join the case. "We will be doing what we can over the next seven weeks to ensure that as many people as possible know about their legal rights to join the case."
The case alleges that default fees charged by the bank in situations such as unarranged overdrafts, bounced cheques and late and over-limit credit card fees are "unenforceable penalties" and should be paid back to customers. Hooker said the case had also been allowed to continue as a whole, rather than being broken into six groups covering the different fees as the ANZ bank had requested.
"The reason that an unarranged overdraft fee on a deposit account is unfair is the same reason that a credit card late payment fee is unfair - these fees are set far above what it actually costs the bank to manage the default that arises."
The next administrative hearing is expected to occur on November 28. A court date for the trial is expected to be set early next year.
Meanwhile, ANZ New Zealand has boosted its annual cash profit as staff cuts and fewer bad debts trimmed costs, offsetting smaller lending margins. Cash profit rose to $1.44 billion in the 12 months ended September 30 from $1.29 billion a year earlier, the bank said.
- additional reporting BusinessDesk
