Westpac who are well known for their illegal fees are now making it difficult for Private Banking customers to actually use their online app, and if that is not enough, they are then moving to give customers a bad credit rating after they had had problems getting into their app because of a barrage of security questions.
I have been a Westpac Banking customer for over 30 years, but this week was the last straw.
After leaving Sydney for a break, I tried to use my Westpac App to pay off completely my credit as I normally do.
First up there were new security checks to log into the app, which is okay with an access number sent to my mobile phone. There was also a fingerprint scan needed to get access,
But then came the security inquisition.
They wanted my date of birth, home address, passport, driving licence and my birth certificate.
Being on the road and away from my home or office I supplied my licence DOB and home address only to be prompted for my income and proof of income, I did not have my birth certificate or my [assport.
All I was trying to do was pay down a credit card account and I needed access to my app to do this not all these questions.
I have no debt or borrowings with Westpac, and I like thousands of others don’t believe I should have to give Westpac my income details unless I was applying for a loan.
When I called their support line the operator admitted that “many customers” were unhappy with the barrage of questions and “new security” measures being put into place.
The fact that in 30 years I have had no security problems with my Westpac accounts was irrelevant.
This is a bank that has forgotten the definition of customer service such as picking up a phone to talk to a customers, but that is most probabally because that costs money, but they have not forgotten how to hit people $15 in late fees for being one day late or charging 20% interest on credit cards.
This is a bank that has a shocking reputation of bullying and intimidation with Bank Managers going out of their way to hurt individuals and businesses even when there in “No Risk.”
Today Westpac appears to be more interested in fee gouging and now they are treating their existing customers as if they are a security risk despite holding a vast amount of information on their customers.
Gone is a call to customers because that costs money. Instead, it’s all about impersonal digital engagement via apps.
This year Westpac got hit with A$40 million penalty for charging advice fees to dead customers, bringing its total bill for “widespread compliance failures” to A$113 million.
The penalties followed six actions launched by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) over the breaches uncovered during the Hayne Royal Commission.
When added to the record penalty for anti-money laundering breaches in 2020, Westpac’s bill for a spate of regulatory compliance breaches over the past two years has risen to more than A$1.4 billion which they now appear to be trying to recover by other methods.
The pattern of misconduct at Westpac along with their bullying of customers dates back more than a decade with the bank now becoming a target for new hack attacks because they have told the market that they are on a massive data trawling exercise to collect data which if Medibank and Optus are anything to go by can be easily hacked.
Westpac have not said how many of their customers credit card accounts are compromised each year.
If you have a problem with westpac or are not happy with their service, or the way that they have treated you, send an email to dwr@4squaremedia.com.
