ASIC has announced that Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will refund around 8,400 customers approximately $7.6 million after it failed to apply fee waivers and ongoing benefits to AgriAdvantage Plus package holders over a number of years. The CBA reported the matter to ASIC under its breach reporting obligations in the Corporations Act.

These types of errors usually occur when product or package promotion information such as discounts or fee waivers are not adequately incorporated in software calculations.

It is always useful to monitor marketing and account statements when a new product is launched to ensure that the product details are accurately reflected in procedures.

It is not clear how CBA discovered the error (eg whether it was raised by a customer) but CBA reported it to ASIC in 2014. CBA advised ASIC 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.

CBA has commenced making contact with all affected customers. Customers affected by the error will be advised of their reimbursement by the end of November 2015.

The package (launched in 2005 but no longer available to new customers) applied to a range of products including lending facilities, business overdrafts, savings and transaction accounts. There were a range of interest rate and fee concessions on eligible products like discounted lending rates, preferential savings rates, and fee waivers.