ANZ

The role of the Customer Advocate was introduced in mid-2003 to facilitate prompt and impartial conclusions to difficult customer complaints. The Customer Advocate is expected to deliberate with a bias in favour of the customer.

We also report the Advocate’s activity publicly every year, to demonstrate our commitment to open, honest and fair complaint resolution. Key outcomes from the year ended 30 September 2006 included:

• 64 complex complaints resolved
• 63% of complaints resolved either directly in favour of the customer or to the customer’s satisfaction
• Total of $68,000 was paid to customers as a result, either as refunded fees or compensation.

In 2000, ANZ made a promise not to leave any more rural communities, and we have kept it.

To ensure we have enough branches and ATMs - in the right locations - to meet the needs of our customers and local communities, we are:

• Opening new branches and upgrading our existing network
• Installing new ATMs, and relocating some existing ATMs
• Opening our Australian Call Centre 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This program operates across all of our customers divisions, to identify and implement ideas that simplify the banking experience for our customers and potential customers.

Initiatives in place or in the pilot phase include:

• ‘Help Desk’ to support frontline staff who assist small business customers
• ‘Switch kits’ for personal and business banking customers
• Checklists to help customers prepare for home and business loan interviews
• Consolidating some of our application forms to avoid duplication and unnecessary complexity.

Our simple, value-for-money Access accounts were introduced in 2002 and continue to set the benchmark for transaction accounts in Australia. Since then we have:

• Launched ANZ Access Basic, providing welfare recipients with free day-to-day transactions through ANZ channels and no monthly account service fee
• Made everyday banking concessions – such as no monthly fees and free ANZ withdrawals – available to seniors, students, under 18s and people with a disability
• Started development of an easy-access small loans scheme, which will enable vulnerable members of our society to access mainstream financial services rather than ‘payday’ lenders and fringe credit providers.

ANZ is working to improve financial literacy to help Australians better understand and manage their money.

We aim to de-mystify some of the common problem areas and help Australians get their finances in shape by approaching things from a range of angles:

• Developing education materials that are available at our branches – such as ‘Kickstart Your Financial Fitness’, ‘How Credit Works’ and ‘Understanding Credit Card Interest’
• Working with community partners to develop innovative education and savings programs such as MoneyMinded, Saver Plus, and Money Business.
• Training our staff to get their own finances in shape, and identify and assist customers with low levels of financial literacy.

Some examples of relief measures we have put in place are:

• The ANZ Drought Consolidation Loan, which enables farmers to consolidate existing farm liabilities into a long-term tailored loan facility. They are then able to restructure their cash outgoings to meet medium-term financial obligations, with a consolidated line of credit on an interest-only basis
• In response to extraordinary cases of bushfire, such as in the Eyre Peninsula (South Australia) in 2005 and in Canberra in 2004, relief measures have included immediate cash assistance, suspended loan repayment terms and waived fees on loans and early withdrawals on term deposits.

ANZ and its staff support a range of local and national initiatives designed to strengthen and renew communities. Our stakeholder engagement framework (PDF, 75kb) informs our approach to community issues. Issues that are important to our customers include:

• ANZ Community Fund
• Community Giving
• Seeds of Rural and Regional Renewal
• Alliance with Pratt Water to increase lending for water-saving irrigation systems
• Habitat for Humanity.

Our consumer lending policies and procedures include strict governance of lending guidelines, commensurate with the ability of the customer to meet obligations. This includes polices in relation to:

• Credit cards
• Personal loans
• Home loans
• Car loans.

Our Credit Cards Collections team also has a referral program in place that supports customers struggling with their personal debts by putting them in touch with an independent financial counsellor.

Our aim is to make balanced, informed and transparent decisions and to work with our clients to assist them in improving their management of the social and environmental risks of their business.

To help us focus our business decisions, we have adopted a framework to ensure they are based on sound social and environmental standards.

ANZ’s culture is a differentiating factor in the financial services industry, indeed amongst large organisations in general.

We believe our success is simply the sum of thousands of individual contributions, so we set about transforming our culture in the late 1990s to help our people deliver the best possible service to our customers.

Our people programs include:

• Induction
• Training
• Personal development
• Mentoring
• Coaching
• Counselling
• Opportunities for learning
• Financial support for tertiary study