AFP, Sydney :
An “enormous” class action over credit card late fees charged by financial institutions, including Citibank and Westpac, on behalf on all their customers was filed in an Australian court Tuesday.
The action-which could become Australia’s biggest consumer lawsuit-was filed by lawyers Maurice Blackburn against Westpac, Citibank, St. George, BankSA and ANZ in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
The open class proceedings mean that “all customers who have ever been charged a late fee, not just those that signed up to the original class actions”, could benefit if the lawsuit is successful, the firm said.
The class action, over what the claimants say are extravagant fees, could be worth millions of dollars and include hundreds of thousands of bank customers. “We’re talking about an enormous action,” Maurice Blackburn’s class action practice head Andrew Watson said.
“If people are a bit like myself and not as careful about paying off their credit card, then they will be in the action and stand to benefit.”
Maurice Blackburn plans to extend the action to cover American Express, the Commonwealth Bank, the National Australia Bank and BankWest.
The lawsuit builds on the partial success of a previous case on bank fees against ANZ on behalf of 43,500 customers in the Federal Court of Australia in February.
