The Bank of Queensland has been sanctioned for charging a total of $158,834 in fees and interest to the estates of deceased customers.
Over a four-year period to 2023 the bank and its subsidiary brands BOQ Specialist and Virgin Money Australia failed to stop or refund more than 2500 erroneous charges.
The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) investigated the breaches to the Banking Code of Conduct.
BCCC chair, Ian Govey AM, said “The decision to name BOQ reflects the severity and systemic nature of the compliance failings. We expect banks to take swift and effective action to address non-compliance and prevent further harm to customers. BOQ’s deficiencies and inadequate response fell below our expectations.”
The breaches were compounded by BOQ’s delays in identifying and addressing underlying issues.
“BOQ’s response to its breaches lacked urgency. It took far too long to implement effective measures to address the root causes and to prevent recurrence,” Govey said.
However, BOQ has completed remediation for affected estates in phases between 2022 and 2024 and has since improved its internal processes to address the underlying issues, the BCCC reports.
In August 2024 BOQ announced it would buy back 114 franchised branches by March 2025, a swift about-turn to its strategy which predicted a doubling of the owner-managed branches by 2026.bigstock
