ANZ outlines ‘responsible banking’ initiatives

ANZ has released its 2018 Sustainability Review, in which it has outlined “fair” and “responsible banking” initiatives, which it hopes to achieve as it seeks to rebuild community trust in the aftermath of the financial services royal commission.

Initiatives outlined by ANZ include:  

• remuneration changes to incentivise good customer outcomes
• improved support for potentially vulnerable customers, such as those with lower incomes or low levels of money management capabilities and confidence
• the introduction of new restrictions on the use of credit cards for gambling
• the establishment of a “Responsible Banking” group, with specialist teams dedicated to customer remediation, product suitability and responsible lending

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott acknowledged the bank’s past failings and has stressed the need for greater transparency.

“Communicating transparently and openly is critical to rebuilding community trust,” Mr Elliott said.

“The [financial services royal commission] has highlighted failures by ANZ and our industry and has helped us reflect on the type of organisation we want to be.

“We are focused on simplifying our business, keeping our promises and learning from our failures.”

ANZ added that in the coming year, it will implement new dispute resolution principles and improve its remediation processes, stating that it will communicate with 700,000 customers, by providing information about how to get more out of ANZ’s products and services like “moving to a lower interest rate credit card”.

 [Related: ANZ to provide banking services to NSW government]