Westpac Banking's (NZE:WBC, ASX:WBC) Westpac New Zealand unit admitted to misleading customers in relation to advertised discounts, resulting in nearly NZ$6.4 million in overcharges, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) said in a Monday statement.
The banking giant made the admissions in civil proceedings brought by the FMA at the High Court in Auckland, per the statement.
The "misleading representations," which include failures to provide advertised discounts under the Employee, Gold, and Platinum packages, affected a total of 24,621 customers.
"Westpac's issues stemmed from deficiencies in its systems that meant the bank failed to deliver to them contractually agreed discounts. Westpac used preferential pricing to attract and retain customers, without having systems that could reliably deliver on those promises," said Margot Gatland, FMA head of enforcement.
Westpac has provided remediation to affected customers. A penalty hearing will take place in due course, according to the statement.
Westpac's shares were up past 1% in New Zealand and Australia in recent Monday trade.
Price (AUD): $35.27, Change: $+0.50, Percent Change: +1.44%
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