… bit of OT - had to get statements from the past re changed/closed accounts from CBA - they stated terms and conditions, not as many years as advertised, and charged for the ‘reprints’ - as pdf’s. I have now changed seven (7) accounts to monthly printed/posted(Australia Post) statements and lodged a formal complaint about the constant reminders online that I can get online statements. I’ll file them myself ! For reasons I can’t go into, if they had denied me this, I’d have changed financial institutions. Subtext - ‘don’t screw me with the fine print’.
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Our mum still had a physical “passbook” with a local Building Society until a few years ago. Suncorp also provided her with an account with internet banking access plus a posted account statement. While she never used the internet banking, account access was linked to a close family members internet banking ID. This enabled convenience and a paper record in the post. Current as of June 2022.
Note the future of Suncorp now rests with ANZ, subject to approval.
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Thank you for writing about this. We have had issue with Suncorp along the same line as you mentioned except that Mum has now been diagnosed with dementia, lives in a hostel and with the current rates of Covid refuses to go anywhere that isn’t “safe”. I also have had problems with the Commonwealth bank. I also have a disability but even though like you I was standing besides my husband on speakerphone they refused to help us. I had to go to a branch. Absolutely ridiculous.
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I suspect you have misread my post.
It was not Suncorp with whom we had issue nor the building society. Both offered paper based options. Importantly SunCorp enabled us to have both internet banking plus paper based statements. I thought that was the type of solution you sought.
Apologies if that is not what you were looking for, at least by example. Suncorp is primarily QLD based.
When assisting an older family member, the greatest difficulty is opening a new account. Even where one has an Enduring Power of Attorney. It’s more an issue with Government Regulations to prevent fraud than with the banks etc. Although CentreLink and Aged Care Services cope in our experience with dealing through family. Especially knowing that many older Aussies can be restricted or have limited capacities.
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We had the same problem with Commonwealth Bank, 4 appointments to lodge and EPA for my Mum who has dementia. When I made the 4th appointment I asked the person at Commonwealth to tell me exactly what paper work we needed to bring as this is the 4th appointment and we wanted to get the document lodged. We had Dad with us and the 3 of us who are on the EPA, we turn up to the appointment and they would not accept the EPA and no real reason except a blank page. I went home typed up an invoice to the bank for my time wasted went into the bank the next day and gave them the invoice $250.00 and they paid it. I should have invoiced for more but what really blew me away is the comment “oh yes we have an account that we use when customers are upset” So from my experience invoice them. My time is valuable. I am doing this with a lot of businesses including government departments when they waste my time by being incompetent. You don’t always get the payment but you feel better.
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A takeover by the ANZ is outrageous. It will lead to even more concentration of market power. One would think a review is needed of what passes for “Competition Law” rather than a review into the RBA.
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Sadly this is a perfect example of the lack of common sense at Westpac. When I moved into my current home, I kept receiving Westpac bank statements (4 per month) for the previous tenants. Given I had no idea where they were living, I wrote RTS on the envelopes and reposted them. After about three more months, I statred collecting them instead of sending them back. When I had a good pile, I trotted off to the local Westpac branch. Handed them over, told the person the account holders did not live at that address, so could Westpac stop sending their private information to me.
Fast forward another 6 months and another 24 bank statements and back I went to the Westpac branch. Repeat!
Six months later, back I went with another 24 bank statements, this time some of them (but not all) have the following: Name, DO NOT USE THIS ADDRESS, followed by my address on the envelope! I also took with me a copy of my written complaint to AFCA together with a copy of the Westpac banking T&Cs highlighting all the areas where they were violating their customer contract with regard to privacy and confidentiality.
I did hear from AFCA and it is correct they cannot act unless you have incured a loss. However, given it was now almost 2 years after I bought my unit and I was still getting these unwanted statements, AFCA did contact Westpac. Westpac then contacted me and asked me to go to the branch - AGAIN!. I did and loudly pointed out that I was not and never would be a Westpac customer because they were incapable of protecting anyone’s privacy, would send private banking information to random strangers and would continue to do so for years even after having been told to stop.
It took over 2 years but the statements finally stopped. I seriously doubt they would taken action without that call from AFCA.
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I wonder if a complaint to Office of Australian Information Commissioner is warranted as well?
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I don’t think it will - I’ve read that ANZ due to incompetence has had their market share drop due to bad core banking systems and buying Suncorp will mean it’s market share will return to what it was a few years ago.
But if you have a considered reply then feel free to email ACCC who are looking for input from interested parties - https://www.accc.gov.au/public-registers/mergers-registers/public-informal-merger-reviews/anz-suncorp-bank
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It is disappointing that it took a long time to resolve. I have a solution which would have resolved it very quickly (see below).
It is worth noting that banks in Australia need a residential/business address to be attached to an account, this includes Westpac which states to open an account, an applicant is to…
Be in Australia and have an Australian residential address and phone number
Your experience could be a case of their system doesn’t allow an open account without a residential address (computer says ‘no’). As your address is the last verified address, the system may not allow it to be removed unless it is replaced with a new address.
While Westpac was extremely slow in resolving (I would have taken a sledgehammer approach and locked the account in question which would have triggered contact from the account holder allowing contact to update details), I also think the account holder also holds much of the responsibility as well. They should have updated the details on moving to ensure that it was current, like that which is required by law for things like drivers licences.
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The only input that concerns the ACCC, IMHO, is from politicians.
I recall writing to the ACCC about the takeover of St George by WBC. I am sure I was not alone in objecting to a further concentration of market power.
But input in the public interest as far as I recall got nowhere, when the Treasurer at the time, Wayne Swan waved it through.
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Hello. Re certifying copies of a POA, you don’t need the solicitor to do it, provided you have an original. My nearest police station (Frankston) has a JP or a sworn police officer (I’m not sure which) who sights, stamps and signs and certifies your copies once he/she is satisfied that you documents a faithful copy of the original. The thing about a properly drawn up Power Of Attorney is it can’t be successfully challenged by a bank officer.
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Maybe, maybe not - there was many interested parties consulted and put their input through and you can’t satisfy everyone and it may seem like your feedback was ignored but compromise meant that only some of it was actioned.
It’s funny though (and supporting your argument of only politicians views count) that the number of responses to the the confidential survey by business and personal banking customers was given. However the number of other responses weren’t given or publicly shown for other then confidential surveys.
From Westpac Banking Corporation - proposed acquisition of St George Bank Limited | ACCC
The ACCC conducted extensive market inquiries in relation to the proposed
acquisition. A range of interested parties provided responses including
competitors, industry and consumer associations, downstream users of products
(including mortgage brokers and financial advisors) and interested third parties.The ACCC also conducted two confidential customer surveys — one for personal
banking customers and the other for business banking customers. The ACCC
received 240 responses to the personal banking survey and 25 responses to the
business banking survey.
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Gets me heated up just reading all these stories!
A tip I got from one client in the early days when I was a Management Consultant was to start airing your grievances on their FB page. Their agents continually scan for adverse comments and get onto them pretty quickly. Other than that, as suggested above I would contacting the Ombudsman. Good Luck!
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I have just closed my Westpac Master Card. I have long since given up trying to deal with Westpac. The training for their staff in customer service is appalling and I could not deal with the stupidity any longer. On separate occasions have been told by their customer service operator that I could not alter my totally dependant son’s mortgage repayments because they would NEVER have allowed my husband and I to sign a mortgage on his behalf irrespective of the facts I presented, and told by another representative when I was asked to confirm my date of birth, “You are almost right”. Both of these people clearly did not stop and think that maybe they should check further seeing that the information I was giving them must have some foundation.
When my late Mother was alive I had reason to ring them on her behalf as she was finding it nearly impossible to hear on the telephone. I stated who I was and had all her info as she was sitting alongside me. They refused to speak to me or provide the info we needed. I hung up. Called back, said I was her, making no effort to disguise my voice which was not that of an 87 year old lady, and they gave me all information we needed. When I was honest they were discourteous and unhelpful, when I was obviously NOT the account holder, they didn’t make any effort protect her account.
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It’s not unique or special to Westpac. We’ve had the same problem over time with other bank, financial institutions, super providers, unpaid bills etc. we were in the past frequent movers.
That nearly all businesses now favour and encourage electronic communication offers some hope. There are those who still rely on paper. Do we need an industry protocol or government regulation to provide a remedy.
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An issue why they may not respond to a return to sender notice on an envelope is that a miscreant could intercept it, add the RTS notice, and put it back in the post, the recipient none the wiser.
The flip side is that miscreant could also steal the mail and use it for identity theft or an attack on the account.
Which of the possible remedies satisfies all the potential issues? The one that comes closest in my mind is personal responsibility to keep one’s details updated followed by a mandate (with significant penalties) for the financial institution (or business) to propagate updates through their systems timely.
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From personal experience we are human and failable. We’ve kept long lists of all those to update, used a PO Box were possible to save pain when moving within a locality, and redirections to cover the unknowns. Personal responsibility is a good place to start. The hoops needed to change address with some financial institutions are worthwhile personal security. There have with each move, been sufficient examples of belligerent behaviour to suggest something more needs to be done towards your second observation.
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So we received a survey from Westpac yesterday…scored them bottom marks across the board on all questions. Gave them all the details of both encounters, plus the fact we fixed it ourselves, without being advised by staff that this was possible. Given that we said we didn’t want a phone call to discuss, pretty sure they won’t email or post anything in reply.
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Yesterday I received a “Payment Declined” message from Westpac. It was a $50000.00 payment from my Mastercard to the ATO. I rang Westpac card services to let them know that whilst its great they declined the payment, this is actually a fraudulent attempt to use our card and should be treated as such… ie investigate and find out from the ATO if someone had given them our card details.
Card services looked at the transaction and advised that it was declined because the expiring date was wrong, and did my husband make the payment?? lol I had already told her this was attempted fraud. I told her to cancel the cards and reissue new ones. She kept insisting she could talk me through doing it online. I pointed out that I was very familiar with Westpac Online Banking but the option of saying the card was lost or stolen was incorrect, so I wanted her to cancel the cards immediately and report the attempted transaction to the Fraud Team. She was a bit vague about the process for attempted fraud so in the end I told her cancel the cards and I will follow up with the Fraud Team.
I rang the “Fraud Team” today, seems its not really a Fraud Team… They advised that disputed transactions are only investigated if they are successful, or as I put it, investigated after they get access to our accounts and can try and extract more money from our accounts. $50000.00 is a hell of a lot of money to lose and then have to wait for an investigation. They have so many fraudulent attempts in a day they can’t realistically follow them up, so they stick with successful ones. I suggested they might want to implement 2FA on Credit Card transactions so the customer has at least some small control over their money.
I found their lack of any real concern interesting after reading the “Westpac Complaints Dept” topic a few days ago. Maybe they should apply the same amount of energy to investigating fraudulent transactions as they do in preventing an account holder access to there Statements.
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