ANZ Banking Group has been fined $212,500 for breaching responsible lending laws.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Monday said it had found ANZ had offered an overdraft facility with a specified limit to certain customers between November 2014 and January 2015, but did not give them the option of choosing a different amount.
These failures by ANZ were in breach of its obligation to make reasonable inquiries about the credit limit a customer requires, the regulator said.
Under the National Consumer Protection Act, legislated by the federal parliament in 2011, lenders are required to inquire about customers' credit limit requirement while offering unsolicited credit, to ensure consumers don't end up with unmanageable debt.
The regulator said it had issued five separate infringement notices to the bank, which co-operated with the investigation.
ANZ last week became the first of Australia's major banks to face action in a case related to the rate at which banks lend each other money, after the corporate watchdog started Federal Court proceedings against the lender, saying it was involved in interest rate rigging.
ANZ rejected the allegations and has said it will defend the legal action.
