Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697632818401.pdf (Australia)
Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ 1 Inquiry into Consumer Protection in the Banking, Insurance and Financial Sector ANZ’s Response to individuals who provided comments through the CHOICE online tool (Submission No.

59) Choice No.

Name Surname Comment ANZ Response 2 Gillian Abraham 20 Russell Auer Ms Abraham complained that she incurred a $50 fee when she missed her minimum monthly repayment on her credit card.
The missed payment occurred when she was on holidays and, prior to that, she has always ensured she met her repayments.

Mr Auer says that, despite being near bankruptcy, ANZ continues to offer him credit card increases.

55 John Bissett Mr John Bissett and Ms Margaret Bissett have complained about ANZ’s removal of an ATM in Whitford Shopping Centre in Perth, Western Australia.

ANZ is sorry to hear about Ms Abraham’s experience.
Given her history with ANZ and the one-off nature of the missed payment we are willing to reimburse the fee incurred.

Unfortunately we have been unable to identify Ms Abraham but if additional information is provided to enable identification of her we will provide this reimbursement to her.

ANZ does not offer credit card limit increases to customers if we are aware that they are experiencing financial difficulty.
We are concerned that Mr Auer has received offers to increase his limit when he is near bankruptcy.

We have not, however, been able to identify him as a current or former customer of ANZ.

If Mr Auer provides us with further details (to enable us to identify him) we will investigate his complaint, and the circumstances surrounding any credit card offers provided to him.
ANZ is sorry that the removal of the freestanding ATM in the Whitford Shopping Centre has inconvenienced Mr John Bissett and Ms Margaret Bissett.

The machine was removed in July 2016 due to a decline in transaction volumes and the proximity of other ATMs within the shopping centre.

There remain three ATMs available within the centre: two ATMs in the ANZ branch and a standalone machine which is street facing and has 24 hour access.
Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ Choice No.

Name Surname Comment ANZ Response 2 We appreciate that this doesn’t meet John and Margaret Bissett’s particular needs but unfortunately we could not justify maintaining a fourth ATM within the centre.

We have previously written to Mr John and Margaret Bissett explaining the rationale for our decision.
56 Margaret Bissett As above As above 59 David Blake Mr Blake has complained that ANZ has changed its terms and conditions to charge a cash advance fee when he purchases lottery tickets online.

From 27 February 2016, ANZ’s definition of a ‘cash advance’ (set out in ANZ’s Credit Card Conditions of Use) was modified to include gaming and gambling transactions.

The purchase of a lottery ticket is regarded as a gambling transaction.
ANZ’s customers were notified of the change between 16 November 2015 and 29 January 2016 by statement insert or direct mail.

This change reflects the ABA position that the Australian banking industry will not incentivise the use of credit for gambling transactions.

ANZ also supports recent government reforms in this area announced as part of the National Consumer Protection Framework.

65 Kevin Bovill Mr Bovill complained that the $18 fee charged by ANZ for a cash transfer to New Zealand is extortionate.
ANZ has the lowest international money transfer fee of any of the major banks.

We charge AU$18 for an online international money transfer less than $10,000.

For amounts over $10,000 we charge a fee of $12.

This fee is outlined on our website and in our Terms and Conditions.

93 Sheryl Campbell Ms Campbell complained about the daily $6 fee charged by ANZ when an account is overdrawn.
She has requested that ANZ send her an ANZ is committed to improving its customer service and is disappointed to hear that Ms Campbell has been frustrated by the ANZ SMS alert service.

Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ Choice No.

Name Surname Comment ANZ Response 3 SMS alert when she overdraws her account but it takes two days to receive to receive the SMS (if she receives one at all).
The SMS alert service sends an SMS when a customer overdraws a personal everyday account by more than $50.

An SMS is sent the next business day which, if an account is overdrawn over a weekend or a national public holiday, may occur two to three days after the account has become overdrawn.

However, a customer will only be charged an overdrawn fee on a business day – no fee is charged on a weekend or on a national public holiday.
176 Laurence Dunn 217 Anne Foran Mr Dunn has complained that when he upgraded his ANZ credit card he was not aware that he would have to reapply to continue his automatic arrangement to pay the balance of his card.

Consequently, he defaulted on the first payment on his new card.

Mr Dunn also did not realise that his new card had a longer interest free period.

Ms Foran stated that banks ought to reduce interest rates on credit cards to give back to their customers.
She also complained about ANZ increasing interest rates when a customer makes a large lump sum payment to a home loan.

In order to avoid overdrawn account fees, we recommend that ANZ customers use online banking tools, including ANZ’s mobile phone application, to monitor their account balance in conjunction with the SMS alert service.

We appreciate Mr Dunn’s frustration at having to re-establish his credit card direct debit payment arrangements when he opened a new card.
Our systems do not automatically apply previous payment arrangement to a new card and we understand that for some customers this can cause confusion.

In the circumstances, we have contacted Mr Dunn reimbursed the fees he incurred.

ANZ does have credit cards with a shorter interest free period (44 days) which are available to Mr Dunn.

However, we have spoken to Mr Dunn and he does not wish to revert to a card with a shorter interest-free period.
ANZ has heard what customers, such as Ms Foran, have told us about credit card rates and reduced our Low Rate Platinum card by two per cent to 11.49 per cent and our Classic LowRate card to 12.49 per cent.

For existing customers not already holding a Low Rate card, the process to transfer is a simple call to our contact centre team.

These are our lowest rates since 2003 and mean that more than half a million existing low rate account customers could potentially save around $150 per year.
In respect of lump sum mortgage payments, Ms Foran appears to be referring to a scenario where a lump sum repayment is made to fixed interest loan.

During a fixed rate period, customers can pay up to $5,000 ahead of their Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ Choice No.

Name Surname Comment ANZ Response 4 219 John Forrest Mr Forrest complained that has written to ANZ to renegotiate his mortgage and has only received machine generated replies.
repayment schedules annually without incurring a charge.

However, payments in excess of $5,000 will incur an early repayment cost (ERC).

While fixed loans provide certainty to customers about repayments during the fixed term, they require ANZ to hedge funds to match our customers’ needs.

Where customers repay additional amounts of their loan early, ANZ has to amend its funding arrangements and the ERC reflects the reasonable estimate of costs for changing these arrangements.
The circumstances in which an ERC will be applicable, and the manner in which it is calculated, is set out in our terms and conditions.

ANZ is working closely with Mr Forrest to assist him with his financial difficulty.

Mr Forrest has referred this matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and ANZ are co-operating with FOS’ enquiries.
We will not take any enforcement action against Mr Forrest while his dispute remains open with FOS or while we are continuing to negotiate with him to resolve his financial difficulty.

319 Paddy Horton Mr Horton complained that when she increased her fortnightly payment on her home loan the teller made an error and he missed a payment.

He says that she was in arrears for months and did not become aware until ANZ offered him an overdraft facility.
In addition, Mr Horton is concerned that he received a cheque from ANZ in respect of an error but does not We are sorry to hear about Mr Horton’s experience with an ANZ teller which caused him to miss a payment on his home loan.

In the circumstances we would of course ensure that Mr Horton did not incur any additional fees or interest as a result of the error.

We are concerned that Mr Horton was not aware that he was in arrears for months.
Our normal collections process includes multiple contacts with a customer in arrears via several communication channels including written correspondence, SMS and telephone.

In respect of the cheque Mr Horton received, without further details we are unable to comment on the reason the cheque was sent.

Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ 5 Choice No.

Name Surname Comment ANZ Response know what the error was or how the amount paid was calculated.
We have been unable to identify Mr Horton from our records but if further information is provided we are happy to address both these matters directly with him.

399 Graham Lauren Mr Lauren believes ANZ imposes fees arbitrarily.

ANZ charges fees in accordance with its Terms and Conditions which are provided to customers when an account is opened or otherwise on request.

448 Rob McDonald Mr McDonald raised a series of concerns: We have been unable to identify Mr McDonald.
However, in response to his concerns we note:  He has been invited to opt-in for online statements but has not received an invitation to continue to receive paper statements;  He inherited $70,000 and was badgered by ANZ staff every time he attended an ANZ branch to put his inheritance into an investment account even though he clearly indicated he did not want to put the money in an inaccessible account;  In 2012 his bank account was scammed.
His replacement card did not arrive for three weeks and during that time he lived without access to money and was unable to buy food; and  In 2011, when he paid off his mortgage, ANZ kept his title 1.

When ANZ switches off paper statements, any ANZ customer will be able to elect to continue to receive paper statements at no extra cost.

If Mr McDonald gets in contact with us we will arrange this for him.

2.

ANZ encourages its branch staff to resolve customer needs.
In this case, it is not unreasonable that an ANZ staff member may propose placing a large sum into a higher interest bearing account.

Some high interest accounts are available at call and would have been accessible to Mr McDonald at short notice.

ANZ apologies that this advice was repeatedly provided when Mr McDonald had made it clear that he did not wish to place the funds in another account.

3.
3.

We are very concerned to hear that Mr McDonald experienced a delay in the provision of a replacement debit card.

We note that Mr McDonald could have withdrawn funds from a branch with identification (assuming he had funds available in the account).

Given that these events occurred some time ago, in 2012, it is difficult for us to investigate what occurred but we are willing to make further enquiries if Mr McDonald gets in touch with us.

4.
4.

ANZ used to offer to hold customer Title Deeds for safe keeping.

Customers were under no obligation to accept this offer.

We apologise if this was not clearly communicated to Mr McDonald.

We trust he now has custody of his Title Deed but, if not, we encourage him to make contact with us and we will arrange for its immediate release.

Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ 6 Choice No.
Name Surname Comment ANZ Response deed the deed for safe keeping and he was not given the opportunity to take the deed.

512 Chris Oakden Mr Oakden complained that his personal loan has an interest rate of 14% which is higher than the secured interest rates he paid on his home loan.

We appreciate Mr Oakden’s long term relationship with ANZ and are sorry to hear his disappointment with the interest on his personal loan.
The higher interest rate for personal loans reflects the increased risk for the bank of providing an unsecured facility.

536 Kevin Parkes Mr Parkes complained that ANZ removed its ATM from Riverwood, New South Wales.

ANZ understands that it can be frustrating for customers when an ATM is removed.

In this instance, the Riverwood ATM was removed in September 2016 when the site owner refurbished the store.

Unfortunately, the new store layout did not support an ATM.
ANZ still have multiple ATMs present in the region with the closest being at Narwee Caltex at 41 Broad Arrow Road.

651 Colleen Stephen Ms Stephen complained about the service she received at ANZ’s Runaway Bay Branch.

ANZ is very sorry to hear the disappointing experience Ms Stephen had at our ANZ Runaway Bay Branch.

We value feedback of this nature as it focuses our attention on those areas where we need to lift our game.
Ms Stephen’s comments have been passed onto the relevant branch and our senior branch management team.

750 Glen Wightman Mr Wightman complained that he was offered a free consultation with an ANZ financial advisor but was subsequently told there would be a minimum charge of $2,000.

We are sorry to hear that Mr Wightman was not properly informed of the potential costs of obtaining advice from an ANZ financial advisor.
For personal advice, ANZ does offer a complimentary initial meeting with a financial planner.

Once the planner understands the level of advice required, they will discuss the costs involved in developing a strategy for the customer.

Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sectorSubmission 59 - Response - ANZ