According to a statement from claims process manager Financial Redress – a wholly-owned subsidiary of listed litigation funder IMF Bentham – approximately 30,000 NAB customers have expressed interest in the action, with that number expected to now grow.
Last week the federal court ruled that customers of NAB who are not already part of the class action have until January 2015 to register their claims and participate in “any settlement with the bank”, the statement said.
Financial Redress managing director James Middleweek said NAB customers should complete the registration process so they do not miss out on any compensation.
“Banks routinely used to charge customers $30-40 if they became overdrawn, went beyond an agreed limit, or made a late payment,” Mr Middleweek said.
“The true cost may only have been a few dollars at most on each transaction. Banks have made billions of dollars from these unfair charges,” he said.
“NAB deserves credit for fronting up and agreeing to settle this claim with [its] own customers. The question is when other banks will take their lead and show the same willingness to offer compensation to their customers,” Mr Middleweek said.
Financial Redress estimates that as many as 150,000 customers are involved in the actions nationwide.
The statement follows a class action suit being filed by Maurice Blackburn against Westpac, Citibank, St George, Bank of South Australia and ANZ in August.
