Loan calculation issue
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Fraudsters may send ‘phishing’ emails or make calls to people and pretend to be from ANZ to try to obtain your personal information or gain access to your bank accounts. That’s why it is important to be vigilant and stay aware.
We will send physical letters to customers affected by our loan calculator issue, not emails.
Remember:
- ANZ will never send you any emails with attachments or ask you to click a link through to ANZ Internet Banking or download any software onto your computer.
- Always log on to ANZ Internet Banking by typing www.anz.co.nz into the address bar, rather than following links to the ANZ website.
What does the loan calculation issue mean for me?
After discussions with the Commerce Commission, we’ll be paying a further amount to some customers with consumer credit contracts affected by our loan calculator problem in 2015 and 2016.
Over the coming months, we’ll send letters to relevant customers, advising how much their additional payment will be.
How will I know if I’m receiving a further payment?
If you are receiving a further payment, we will write to you detailing the further payment. We will start sending these letters in April, and expect to be complete by October.
We’ll be making the further payments to bank accounts, rather than to your loan.
What was the original loan calculation problem?
A loan calculator problem meant we didn't include some interest we were due to charge when working out repayments and loan terms for some customers who had asked for loan changes between May 2015 and May 2016.
For some loans that meant, for a time, loan repayments were a little smaller than needed. For others, the indicative total interest we told customers was a little smaller than it should have been.
We fixed the loan calculator in May 2016. Over 2018-2019 we wrote to most impacted customers, and credited any customers who had underpaid because of the problem, clearing the amount underpaid while their loan was impacted. At that time, we paid $5.6m to customers who had consumer credit contracts.
No customers were disadvantaged by the loan calculator problem.
Why is a further payment being made to customers?
When we credited customers who underpaid their loans back in 2018/2019, we ensured impacted loans were back on track, and customers would ultimately pay less than they agreed to in their loan agreement. No customers were disadvantaged by the loan calculation issue.
While we believe our initial payment to impacted customers was fair and better than overseas examples, the Commission believes that, for consumer credit contracts, ANZ fell short of the requirements of a responsible lender under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003.
After further discussions with the Commission, we’ve agreed to pay a further $29.4m to relevant customers with a consumer credit contract. This brings the total paid for customers with consumer credit contracts to $35m.
Where can I get more information?
If you have any questions, please call us on 0800 269 014, Monday to Friday, between 9.00am and 5.00pm.
Or you’re welcome to email us at CustomerResolutionTeam@anz.com and we will be in touch with you over the next business day.