ANZ Increases Advertising Disclosure

Wednesday 9 May 2001 For Immediate Release

ANZ Increases Advertising Disclosure

ANZ has increased its advertising disclosure for ANZ Money Saver home loans following a District Court hearing in Wellington today.

The case related to the press advertisement of a home loan product, ANZ Money Saver, which was published between 9 June 2000 to 30 July 2000.

The Bank was fined $5,000 for publishing a Money Saver loan press advertisement last year that was liable to mislead as to the true cost of the loan. However the Bank had not intended to mislead anyone and no ANZ customers had complained that the advertisement was misleading.

Although the costs associated with the home loan were fully disclosed in the advertisement, the Commerce Commission took the view that the advertisement breached the Fair Trading Act 1986 because these costs were detailed in smaller print at the foot of the advertisement.

ANZ Head of Group Marketing, Mark Thomas, said the Commission believed the cost information should have had more prominence within the advertising. In response, he said the Bank would include this information in the body of the advertisement for future Money Saver press advertisements.

"We are committed to meeting all compliance standards including information disclosure within advertising. Although in this instance the Commerce Commission has found we have not met these standards, we have already taken action to rectify the issue.

Mr Thomas said ANZ wanted greater clarity of the standard it needed to meet and would work with the Commission and other industry groups to achieve this.

ENDS

For further information please contact: Steve Fisher, (09) 374 4123

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