If you have a credit card, a home loan, or a small business loan from any bank in Australia, you are almost certainly being charged twice for any fees and interest on the loan. You should check and request a refund.
- See if your loan or credit account has any interest or bank fee debits where the bank has said you owe interest.
- When the bank debits a loan account, it extends your loan, gives you more credit, and creates new money. It can do this but must also give you the money from the loan extension. When the bank debits your account, it does not create money but says that you still owe the amount (your loan is extended) but it still expects you to pay it. There is no cost to the bank. The bank was meant to give the money to you, but it doesn’t. If it did, then your interest would be paid, and your account would be credited.
- Later, the bank demands that you pay the interest or fee and reduce the amount you owe from the loan extension. This means you pay the money twice.
- The bank has extended your loan unnecessarily. It should either pay the amount or not debit your account and send you an invoice.
The actions you can take are:
- Request the bank credit any double payment of interest or fees you have paid since having the loan.
- Copy the request to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. https://www.afca.org.au/make-a-complaint
