CHOICE September 2025

I’ll never forget the time Instagram convinced me to buy a pair of Ninja Pants. The year was 2020, the world was knee deep in COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. A challenging time for all involved. It was a time of panic, of stress, of trying to figure out how to homeschool two rowdy children while working a demanding full-time job. It was a time of Ninja Pants. If you’re a man aged 25–45, you might remember Ninja Pants. Baggy at the thighs, tight at the ankle. All the rage in Japan apparently. They looked comfortable yet cutting edge. Cool but casual. They were sometimes described as Japanese pants, or more alarmingly, “casual harem pants”. Still trying to figure out what “formal harem pants” look like, but I digress… The Ninja Pants…

After a long campaign from CHOICE and other consumer groups, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has released a draft proposal to ban surcharges on debit and credit cards. The RBA predicts that its proposal would save consumers an estimated $1.2 billion per year, while businesses would save a similar amount through steps to reduce the interchange fees they pay to card providers. Back in 2016, advocacy by CHOICE pushed the federal government to ban excessive surcharges. Now, after another consumer-led push, the government is finally proposing to ban them altogether. Every day, millions of Australians face these sneaky extra charges. Last year, a CHOICE survey found that two in three people (66%) have often experienced businesses adding on a debit card surcharge without telling them. The RBA’s review found…

For the second year in a row, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has received more than 100,000 complaints, a number that Chief Ombudsman David Locke says is far too high. “Firms have more work to do to ensure fair responses to complaints are delivered earlier, without people having to take the extra step of coming to us,” says Locke. There was a slight decline in the overall number of complaints (4%) compared to last year’s record high, but complaints about investment and advice in general insurance were up 17%, and the number of complaints about life insurance also grew. A 45% decrease in the number of scam-related complaints explains the overall fall for the banking and finance sectors, says Locke. “AFCA currently only sees a small proportion of scam…

Australian banks have started rolling out Confirmation of Payee (CoP) to their apps and websites to allow customers to make sure they’re sending money to the right person or business. CoP has long been called for as a way to protect more Australians from scams. The function will activate when a customer tries to send money to a BSB and account number for the first time. When the customer enters the name they believe is associated with the account, CoP will check the receiving bank’s data to make sure this is correct. Until now, most Australian banks haven’t been performing such checks, leading to instances ofscammers posing as a trusted individual or organisation and diverting payments into their own accounts. Under the new CoP scheme, if details don’t match, a…

Consumers are being urged to make sure any power banks they’re using are safe, as a growing number of the popular portable battery chargers are recalled by the ACCC. Dangerous power banks can catch fire, explode or vent toxic gas. Of the 17 different power banks the ACCC has recalled since 2020, nine were flagged as dangerous in the last 16 months alone. “Some consumers have suffered serious burn injuries, and some have had their property damaged because of power banks overheating and catching fire,” says ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe. The ACCC is concerned more incidents could follow, revealing that around 34,000 recalled power banks are still with consumers and could be being used to charge phones and other devices. You can check if your power bank is subject…

The Federal Court has ordered online travel agency Webjet to pay $9 million in penalties for misleading advertising and for sending fake booking confirmations to customers. Webjet admitted it had promoted flight prices without including compulsory fees and asked for additional payments from customers despite already providing booking confirmations. The ACCC brought the case against Webjet following an investigation. “We took this case because we considered that Webjet used misleading pricing by excluding or not adequately disclosing compulsory fees in its ads,” says ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. “Seeking to lure in customers with prices that don’t tell the whole story is a serious breach of the Australian Consumer Law.” In its advertised prices, Webjet excluded servicing and booking guarantee charges, which ranged from $34.90 to $54.90. Such fees provided Webjet…