Australian consumers will soon be able to challenge any bank fee that they consider “unreasonable,” thanks to a new law that could save consumers up to $1 billion. Banks that want to keep levying excessive fees for late payments and overdrafts will need to prove that the charges are reasonable by revealing the true processing costs behind the fee.

Consumer lawyers say the banks will then have to reveal the cost involved, and that as a result of the changes the size of exception fees could fall dramatically. The banks argued during the passage of the bill that customers would “seek to avoid their obligations” to pay certain fees even though they would have agreed to the charges laid out by the terms and conditions of a particular account.

Almost every type of bank account, credit card, personal loan and mortgage, “numbering tens of millions”, could be affected, says the association.

Wouldn’t it be great if *ahem* our own Congress passed a similar law?

New law puts $1b in bank fees at risk [The Sydney Morning Herald via Consumer Law & Policy Blog]
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