ME Bank in hot water, fined $820k by ASIC for responsible lending stuff-up

The Federal Court found the conduct occurred as far back as 2016, before Bank of Queensland acquired ME.

Between 25 May 2018 and 3 September 2018, ME Bank sent 589 letters to home loan customers informing them of incorrect minimum repayment amounts to be paid after the expiry of either a fixed-rate or interest-only period. Each of the letters contained a repayment amount that was less than the actual amount required to repay the loan.
Between 28 December 2016 and 23 February 2018, ME Bank also failed to send letters to some customers to inform them that the interest rate and minimum repayment amount was changing after the expiry of an interest-only or fixed-rate period.

The penalty comprises of $750,000 for contravention of the ASIC Act, and $70,000 for contravention of the National Credit Code in the National Consumer Credit Protection (NCCP) Act of 2009.

The NCCP Act is the overarching act in which all regulated lenders with terms longer than 62 days must abide.