NAB pays A$751,200 penalty on breaches of consumer data rights rules

AUSTRALIA’S competition watchdog said on Thursday that the National Australia Bank had paid a fine of A$751,200 (S$629,000) over alleged breaches of consumer data right rules due to failures to disclose credit limit data.

The penalty, which is the highest ever for alleged breaches of Consumer Data Right (CDR) rules, was issued after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued the lender four infringement notices.

The notices relate to alleged failures to accurately disclose credit limit data in four separate requests from different CDR providers on behalf of consumers.

The CDR is an economy-wide data sharing programme that helps consumers safely share the data that businesses hold about them, and helps consumers to compare products and services, among others.

The failure to disclose information on credit card limits impacted the services of several fintech companies provided to consumers, including some fintech companies that offer mortgage broking tools using CDR data, ACCC said in a statement.

NAB has “fully cooperated with the ACCC’s review and has resolved the data quality error identified”, the lender said in an emailed statement. REUTERS