Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA), National Australia Bank Limited (ASX:NAB), Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) and Citibank will now join ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) as the subject of legal proceedings against exorbitant customer fees.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn issued proceedings in the Federal Court in Melbourne at the end of last week on behalf of more than 150,000 customers for claims worth almost $200 million.
The action against Australia’s Big Four banks and Citibank is poised to be Australia’s biggest ever consumer class action to recover customer fees.
Maurice Blackburn says the latest move is similar to the ANZ class action launched in September 2010.
The cases allege fees imposed upon customers for overdrawn accounts, late payments, honor and dishonor charges do not reflect the actual cost to the bank.
In the 2011 financial year Commonwealth Bank reported a net profit to $6.4 billion.
