How it helps ANZ - Corporate Responsibility

How it helps ANZ

Why it makes sense for ANZ

ANZ's financial literacy and inclusion programs bring real benefits to participants and the community as a whole. However, they also bring long-term benefits to our business and our shareholders: benefits such as enhancing ANZ's reputation, improving the value of our workforce, and reducing our exposure to risk.

A Business Case for Financial Literacy and Inclusion?

ANZ believes that our financial literacy and inclusion programs and commitments ultimately bring benefits to us as a business, as well as to the community, our staff and customers.

Our involvement in financial literacy and inclusion is not, however, a short-term tactic to promote ANZ products. Our programs (like MoneyMinded) are generally unbranded, so participants may not know they are in an ANZ-supported program. The Saver Plus program requires participants to open an ANZ Progress Saver account, to keep track of their savings and to develop a more confident relationship with their local bank. However, participants are excluded from any other unsolicited marketing about ANZ products and services.

So what are the business benefits of our financial literacy and inclusion commitments? We believe they fall into three categories:

Leadership and knowledge building increases awareness of ANZ among key stakeholders, and strengthens our reputation as a good corporate citizen.
Building a financially fit workforce enhances our ability to attract and retain quality staff and helps us to improve our customer service.
Responsible lending practices help us to become trusted by the community and reduce our exposure to risk.

Leadership and knowledge building

ANZ is working closely with the financial services industry, educators, consumer and community groups and Government to create widespread awareness of financial literacy issues and the need for financial literacy education.

ANZ's 2003 survey into adult financial literacy was the first research of its kind in Australia. It provided valuable information on the size and nature of the financial literacy issue and identified areas for action. This research is ongoing, with follow-up surveys undertaken in 2005 and 2008. Find out more about our research.

Our research and evaluation strategy extends to our key programs, with a growing body of independent evaluation and longitudinal research that has helped to inform the development of financial literacy initiatives in Australia generally.

ANZ has also hosted or sponsored stakeholder briefings by several international experts on financial literacy.

And finally, ANZ has developed a successful partnership approach with the community and government sectors that has been widely recognised as a successful model for cross-sector collaboration.

All of these activities allow ANZ to build on our expertise and resources in financial matters and make a real contribution to improving financial literacy. At the same time, they benefit ANZ by continuously demonstrating our expertise and leadership to key stakeholders in the Australian and international business, finance, government, education and community sectors.

Building a Financially Fit Workforce

Our work on financial literacy starts at home with our aim to build the most financially fit workforce in Australia. Our staff have access to free online financial education programs such as Planning and Saving, Loans and Credit and Investment Basics. Find out more about our staff education programs.

Staff who are themselves financially fit will ultimately better serve customers and their local communities.

Building a financially fit workforce is one of the reasons why "ANZ has one of the most engaged workforces of any large banking organisation globally" (Hewitt Associates, 2007). An engaged, committed workforce leads to better service for customers, more efficient use of labour costs, and ultimately, increased value for shareholders.

Responsible Lending Practices

The public perception that banks practice irresponsible lending is one of the major reasons for the loss of community trust in the banking sector. Engaging in responsible consumer lending is one way ANZ is building trust with its customers.

ANZ was the first bank in Australia to introduce public responsible lending commitments as part of our Customer Charter. These promises respond to research we conducted into financial difficulty which found that some customers may accept unsolicited offers without fully considering whether they can afford extra credit. Find out more about Responsible Lending.

We have also developed a small loans program with the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Progress Loans gives low-income people an option for safe, affordable credit when borrowing small amounts. The program is delivered by community-based loans officers.

Responsible lending also helps ANZ by reducing our exposure to risk. It's in the interests of everyone - customers and shareholders - that our lending is dependent on the customer's ability to successfully meet their repayments. This also means we are committed to assisting customers who may be experiencing hardship with appropriate strategies for the management of their debt.