• All of them provided itemised fee information;
• Eight provided fee summaries (on at least ‘some’ of the statements);
• Six notified customers to check for errors.

ATM fee disclosures

ASIC’s figures show 60% of the 15 banks surveyed provided ‘some’ notice of foreign ATM fees – either on-screen or physically on the ATM. This means more than 7500 bank-owned ATMs provide this disclosure to the customer.

A ‘foreign’ ATM transaction is undertaken when a customer uses an ATM which does not belong to their card issuing institution. This disclosure is seen by banks’ customers and customers from other financial institutions who may use the bank-owned ATMs to complete transactions.

(NB: The report confirms that financial institutions with ATMs are waiting on the outcome of payments systems reforms before considering implementing real-time ATM fee disclosure.)

Fee minimisation and fee changes

ASIC detailed the range of communications that financial institutions use to notify customers of fee changes. These include: letters, e-mail and newspaper advertisements. 

The report also showed that financial institutions, provided information in many types of publications on how customers can minimise fees, rather than providing this information on statements.

Direct debit dishonour fees

ASIC found that direct debit dishonour fees are charged not only by banks, but also by credit unions and building societies – 170 financial institutions in total. This is important because banks are often singled out for criticism over these fees when it is in fact standard practice across the industry.

Unfortunately, ASIC has produced minimal data on this topic, so it is impossible to conclude whether banks are complying better or worse than credit unions and/or building societies.

ABA initiatives 

The ABA published in 2003 the booklet – ‘Smarter Banking - Make the Most of Your Money’. This handy booklet provides tips on how customers can minimise fees. (See notes for editors)

In 2004, the ABA finalised the revised Code of Banking Practice. This Code includes good banking practice for disclosure of fees. The Code has generally been recognised as a positive development by the Federal Government and the consumer movement.