National Australia Bank is removing more than 100 fees from across its products and services, as part of a fee clean-up program.
By the end of September NAB will no longer charge:
- Legal fees for business lending customers, which currently attract more than 2000 complaints per year
- ‘Repeat statement fees’ when customers request bank statements
- Fees applied when issuing or cashing foreign currency (fee applied on top of conversion rate)
Customers can also now cash cheques up to $1500 with no fees attached[1], using a new mobile cheque deposit feature in the NAB Mobile Banking app.
NAB Chief Customer Officer, Rachel Slade said the fee blitz which began in May, was part of NAB’s commitment to reduce complexity, be simpler and faster for customers – and reduce complaints.
“NAB has built-up far too much complexity, including the way we have applied fees and charges to our products and services,” Ms Slade said.
“We’re listening to customer feedback and making changes to fees, so there’s less of them and they’re simpler and easier to understand.
“It’s an important milestone to eliminate 100 fees and the need for an entire ‘Legal fees and charges booklet’ detailing fees previously charged to business lending customers.
“These improvements are a welcome change for our customers and we anticipate it will simplify our business too, with thousands less calls for information and support coming to our customer contact centres,” Ms Slade said.
A $10 monthly service fee for access to NAB Connect was removed in July. Since that time, customer applications have increased five per cent.
More than 8,000 customers have saved on $15 credit card late payment fees, following the introduction of a waiver for customers who had paid the minimum monthly amount due on time in the 11 previous months.
NAB has sent more than 1.8 million SMS credit card payment reminders to customers since launching in March 2019. Actions including the SMS reminders and $15 late payment fee waiver initiative have helped in an estimated 30 per cent reduction in credit card late payment fee complaints[2].
“It’s really pleasing to see indications that the removal of fees and supporting initiatives we’re putting in place are having a positive impact for our customers,” Ms Slade said.
[1] Business customers should be aware that transaction fees may apply to electronic transactions including deposits on certain business accounts. Service fees may also apply if you request additional services in relation to cheques submitted for deposit using the service. These fees are set out in Business Banking Fees – A guide to fees and charges
[2] Calculated on the four-month average from April to July 2019 compared to the corresponding period in 2018.