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Your requests might have been ignored: How thousands of Aussies were let down by ANZ’s silence

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Your requests might have been ignored: How thousands of Aussies were let down by ANZ’s silence

ANZ.PNG Your requests might have been ignored: How thousands of Aussies were let down by ANZ’s silence
ANZ has garnered criticism over its earnings despite leaving customers in limbo. Image Credit: ANZ

The customers' phone calls went unanswered. Many letters were left to be ignored.



For more than two years, desperate ANZ customers who faced unemployment, serious illness, family violence and bereavement reached out to their bank for help—only to be met with silence.



Meanwhile, in the gleaming towers of corporate Australia, ANZ executives were collecting a staggering $26 million in bonuses for their 'performance' during these same years.



This story isn't just another banking scandal. It's a story that has affected nearly 65,000 Australians. The worse part? ANZ admitted to widespread misconduct, and financial watchdog ASIC believed they have 'betrayed the trust of Australians' once again.



When help becomes heartbreak

Between May 2022 and September 2024, ANZ failed to respond to 488 customers who submitted financial hardship notices to the bank, with some cases taking more than two years to get any response at all. But the numbers only tell part of the story.



ASIC allegeed that issues including unemployment, serious medical problems, bereavement and family violence were ignored. In some cases, ANZ even took action to recover debts from customers despite never responding to their hardship notices.



'By the time they've reached out to a bank because they need financial hardship support, they are living on an oily rag, some of them have not been eating properly.'

Julie Davis, Financial Rights Legal Centre



Julie Davis from the Financial Rights Legal Centre called ANZ's failures a 'real slap in the face' to people dealing with significant hardships, explaining that customers have often already spent months cutting costs and tightening their belts before reaching out to their bank for help.



ANZ.PNG

The dead were not spared

ANZ failed to refund fees charged to deceased customers between July 2019 and June 2023, with the bank's systems unable to identify which fees should have been waived after a customer's passing.



Over 18,900 customer accounts were eventually remediated $3.8 million by ANZ, with over 9,000 people contacted to apologise for delays.



However, ANZ still could not identify the total number of affected customers, and ASIC notes these failures likely 'compounded the difficulties faced by loved ones dealing with the death of a family member or relative, as well as frustrating the probate process.'



ANZ first identified these system problems in 2022 but took over a year to resolve them.



Bonuses while Rome burns

During a period of systemic failure, ANZ's senior executives were being rewarded. Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, eleven executives shared more than $26 million in short-term bonuses—an average of nearly $800,000 each.


The contrast is stark. While affected customers received a total of $92,687 through ANZ's remediation program, former CEO Shayne Elliott alone collected $5.5 million in short-term bonuses for the past three years.




ANZ's record-breaking $240 million penalty breakdown



  • $125 million for institutional misconduct (bond trading issues)



  • $115 million for retail misconduct (customer-facing failures)



  • Nearly 65,000 customers affected across all misconduct areas—488 hardship notices ignored, some for over 2 years—18,900+ deceased customer accounts charged improper fees




'That's indefensible and completely out of touch with what the community expects,' Finance Sector Union National President Wendy Streets stated.



At a time when ANZ is slashing 3,500 roles to save $800 million, offshoring jobs and apologising for compliance failures, these payouts are tone-deaf and unjustifiable.'


A pattern of problems

This latest penalty represents the seventh time ANZ's Australian operations have been penalised in the past eight years for misconduct.



The bank's troubles extended beyond individual customer treatment to its dealings with the Australian Government, where ASIC found ANZ acted 'unconscionably' while managing a $14 billion bond deal and misreported trading data.



Additional misconduct included failing to pay promised introductory bonus interest rates to customers over 11 years, affecting 26,917 customers and resulting in around $480,000 in unpaid interest.



The bigger picture: an industry-wide problem

ANZ's failures aren't occurring in isolation. ASIC Chair Joe Longo has warned that 'in the worst cases, lenders ignored hardship notices, effectively abandoning customers who needed their support,' with too many Australians in financial hardship finding it hard to get help from their lenders.



The regulator found a 54 per cent increase in hardship notices from customers in the last quarter of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, reflecting the growing cost-of-living pressures facing Australian families.


ASIC's broader review found lenders were using 'cookie-cutter approaches' to hardship requests and had inadequate arrangements for supporting vulnerable Australians, including those experiencing family violence.


What's being done

In September 2025, ASIC and ANZ asked the Federal Court to impose a $40 million penalty for the hardship notice failures. However, the banking regulator pushed for broader industry reforms.



ASIC Commissioner Kate O'Rourke recently noted some progress.



'We have seen lenders work to uplift their hardship practices and to support their customers better, experiencing hardship,' Commissioner O'Rourke stated. However, ASIC maintains 'ongoing concerns about hardship practices' across the industry.




For those in need of hardship assistance


    If you're struggling financially, don't wait—contact your lender as soon as possible to request help.


    If you're not satisfied with their response:


  • Make a formal complaint to your lender first

  • If still unsatisfied, contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority

  • For multiple debts or help applying for hardship assistance, call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 for free financial counselling

  • Visit Moneysmart.gov.au for more information on financial hardship support




A reckoning delayed

ANZ has issued multiple apologies and promises to overhaul its culture.



Chair Paul O'Sullivan announced in September that more than 50 'accountability reviews' had been conducted, resulting in 'significant impacts to variable remuneration for certain individuals.' However, the full extent of these impacts won't be known until the bank's annual general meeting in December.



The bank's promises didn't convince greens senator Nick McKim of change. 'The culture at the top of Australia's banks hasn't changed since the royal commission,' he said, noting that those who presided over the misconduct 'are still cashing in.'



The timing couldn't be worse for ANZ's reputation. As the bank cuts 3,500 jobs to save $800 million and customers struggle with rising living costs, the sight of executives collecting millions in bonuses while vulnerable customers were ignored represents everything that's wrong with banking culture in Australia.



For the thousands of ANZ customers who desperately needed help and got silence instead, no amount of corporate apologies can undo the harm caused by a bank that put profits before people when it mattered most.



What are your thoughts on this banking scandal? Have you or someone you know struggled to get help from your bank during challenging times? Share your experiences in the comments below—your voice matters in holding these institutions accountable.






  • Primary source






  • 25-201MR ANZ admits widespread misconduct and agrees to pay $240 million in penalties | ASIC

    Cited text: 'Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) has admitted to engaging in unconscionable conduct in services it provided to the Australian Gov...'


    Excerpt: 'It's a story that has affected nearly 65,000 Australians, with ANZ admitting to widespread misconduct that financial watchdog ASIC says 'betrayed the trust of Australians' once again.'







  • 'A real slap in the face': ANZ to be handed record fine for misconduct

    Cited text: 'Financial watchdog the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced on Monday that ANZ had admitted to misconduct over many years...'


    Excerpt: 'It's a story that has affected nearly 65,000 Australians, with ANZ admitting to widespread misconduct that financial watchdog ASIC says 'betrayed the trust of Australians' once again.'







  • ANZ agrees to $240m fine for misconduct—The Adviser

    Cited text: '... ANZ failed to refund fees charged to dead customers and breached obligations concerning deceased estates between July 2019 and June 2023, accordin...'


    Excerpt: 'ANZ failed to refund fees charged to deceased customers between July 2019 and June 2023, with the bank's systems unable to identify which fees should have been waived after a customer's death.'







  • ANZ faces $240 million penalty for unconscionable misconduct affecting 65,000 customers

    Cited text: 'ANZ has been unable to identify the total number of affected customers so the full extent of the impact is still unknown. ANZ’s failures are likely to...'


    Excerpt: 'ANZ still can't identify the total number of affected customers, and ASIC notes these failures likely 'compounded the difficulties faced by loved ones dealing with the death of a family member or relative, as well as frustrating the…'







  • ANZ Australia faces record $240m penalty for ripping off customers, government | RNZ News

    Cited text: 'The bank's Australian branch has been penalised seven times in the past eight years for prior misconduct, ASIC says.'


    Excerpt: 'This latest penalty represents the seventh time ANZ's Australian operations have been penalised in the past eight years for misconduct.'







  • 25-216MR ASIC urges ongoing customer focus following welcome improvements in hardship support

    Cited text: 'In September 2025, ASIC and ANZ asked the Federal Court to impose a $40 million penalty on ANZ for failing to respond to customers’ hardship notices w...'


    Excerpt: 'In September 2025, ASIC and ANZ asked the Federal Court to impose a $40 million penalty specifically for the hardship notice failures.'





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SORRY,SSORRY,SORRY THATS ALL YOU HEAR THE WORD SORRY DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING ANY MORE.
 
I don't understand why anyone who banks with ANZ is still with them after all their dreadful mistakes if one can call it that. they have repeatedly abused their customers to make huge profits with no regrets to turn around and do it again and again. Customers need to walk away and find a better bank and teach them a lesson.
 
Why is it that when Commonwealth, ANZ, Qantas, Optus, Telstra and many others get fined for doing the wrong thing, the hundreds of millions of dollars in fines go into government coffers? Meanwhile, the people who are wronged get an apology? Governments are just as horrible and mean-spirited as these major corporations.
 
I don't understand why anyone who banks with ANZ is still with them after all their dreadful mistakes if one can call it that. they have repeatedly abused their customers to make huge profits with no regrets to turn around and do it again and again. Customers need to walk away and find a better bank and teach them a lesson.
Show me a bank that is squeaky-clean and I'll change. We have had an (over) one-year battle with ANZ over getting access to our money in a term deposit that was linked to a loan. Fast forward to now, and we have finally gotten exactly what we asked for. Why put us through all of the stress and back-and-forth e-mails with India? All we wanted was access to our money. Is that really so hard?
We will change because of this, but what other corporate pig with its snout in the trough do you go to?
 
My wife and I obtained our last home loan with ANZ. There were no issues from start to finish. The previous bank we were with, WESTPAC, was an absolute disaster. Abusive staff and total indifference to our problems. I'd suggest ALL banks have issues and there is nothing to gain in singling out one
 
Show me a bank that is squeaky-clean and I'll change. We have had an (over) one-year battle with ANZ over getting access to our money in a term deposit that was linked to a loan. Fast forward to now, and we have finally gotten exactly what we asked for. Why put us through all of the stress and back-and-forth e-mails with India? All we wanted was access to our money. Is that really so hard?
We will change because of this, but what other corporate pig with its snout in the trough do you go to?
Customers should definitely get compensation and it's about time that was brought in and that's where the fines should be going first and foremost and the customers are the ones wronged, stressed and put through the wringer through no fault of their own.
 
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