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The Federal Court has ordered a $33.5 million penalty against Walker Stores Pty Ltd, the operator of online household goods and electronics retailer Snaffle, after finding the company unlawfully overcharged consumers on more than 38,000 credit contracts over a period of nearly three and a half years.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) brought the action against Walker Stores, which is currently in liquidation, alleging the company systematically miscalculated interest on credit contracts between September 2021 and February 2025 by applying interest to the total contract amount rather than the diminishing unpaid balance.
The practice resulted in customers being charged almost $20 million more in interest than they were lawfully owed - nearly double the permitted amount.
Federal Court Justice Beach also found that Snaffle's pricing breached the 48 per cent annual cost rate cap imposed under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, with credit charges on three sample contracts reaching between 88 per cent and 103 per cent.
The court noted that many of the affected consumers relied on Centrelink as their primary source of income, describing the conduct as "repetition and scale which undermine the statutory regime".
ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court says the penalty reflects the severity of the misconduct.
"This is a substantial penalty for egregious misconduct that impacted tens of thousands of Australians," says Court.
"Consumers who enter these types of credit arrangements are often financially vulnerable.
"Charging unlawful interest can significantly exacerbate the customer’s difficult financial position."
ASIC first filed proceedings against Walker Stores in May 2025, alleging at the time that as many as 40,430 credit contracts may have been affected and citing annual cost rates ranging from 60 per cent to 103 per cent.
The Federal Court's findings ultimately confirmed breaches across more than 38,000 contracts, with the proven annual cost rates ranging from 88 per cent to 103 per cent.
Snaffle operated as an online retailer offering consumer credit contracts for household goods and electronics.
Under the terms of those contracts, interest was required to be calculated on the outstanding balance as customers made repayments.
Instead, Walker Stores applied interest to the full original contract amount for the life of the agreement, inflating the total cost to consumers.
In making orders against Walker Stores, Justice Beach described the interest calculation contraventions as "particularly serious in my view".
"Many consumers have been identified as people for whom Centrelink was their primary source of income," he said.
"The conduct is of repetition and scale which undermine the statutory regime and, in my view, substantial penalties are called for."
In addition to the $33.5 million penalty, the Federal Court ordered Walker Stores to publish an adverse publicity notice and pay ASIC's legal costs.
The action against Walker Stores forms part of ASIC's broader scrutiny of the consumer credit and leasing industry.
The regulator has previously put the consumer lease sector on notice over potential compliance failures, particularly following reforms designed to strengthen protections for financially vulnerable Australians.
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