Banks deny wrong PIN fee claim

AAP
Apr. 11, 2006

Three banks have denied claims from the Australian Consumers' Association that they charge fees for cancelled transactions and bill customers if they put in a wrong PIN number.

The association yesterday said four banks - NAB, Bank of Queensland, St George and BankWest - charged fees of between 60 cents and $2 for cancelled EFTPOS and ATM transactions.

The association said the fees might be charged if an incorrect pin was entered; the wrong account type was accidentally chosen; there were insufficient funds in the account; or the customer aborted the transaction before completion.

But three of the four banks named by the association have denied issuing such charges.

NAB, Bank of Queensland and St George all said the association's information was incorrect.

St George said in a statement the charges "only apply for a successful withdrawal or cash or balance inquiry".

"Customers who accidentally type in an incorrect PIN, or select the wrong account, are not charged a fee," St George said in a statement.

BankWest said it charged customers $1.50 if they had insufficient funds in their accounts and they had used a non-BankWest ATM.