ANZ's bid to outsmart Suncorp contract reaches new low
ABOVE: From ANZ's response to a customer complaint over the Katoomba closure dated September 6, 2024.
JUST when it seemed ANZ’s attempts to justify the closure a regional NSW branch in defiance of a condition of the Suncorp acquisition deal not to close any regional sites for three years could not get any more farcical, the bank has upped the ante.
In a letter to a customer complaining about the planned closure of the Katoomba branch next month, ANZ claimed that although it had triggered regional branch closure protocols (established as a direct result of two federal government inquiries into regional bank closures), the protocol was not about regional branches.
It stated: “ANZ has provided the community a six-month closure notice, in accordance with the Australian Banking Associations (sic) Branch Closure Support Protocol, which applies because Katoomba is more than 20 kilometers from the nearest open branch. This decision is not based on Katoomba being classified as a regional site.”
The protocol is managed by the Australian Banking Association as part of the self-regulated Banking Code of Practice.
It has been in place since the 1999 Money too Far Away inquiry, which now-Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sat on and helped write the following recommendation:
Recommendation 19
The Committee recommends that the Australian Bankers' Association develops a minimum standard of service delivery as a guideline for banks in the event of closing regional and remote branches.
As the result of a recommendation to come from a 2021 Regional Banking Taskforce inquiry set up by the Morrison Government and released later by the new Labor Government Treasury, a new version of the protocol was adopted into the Banking Code of Practice in June 2023.
The recommendation from the taskforce was accepted in full by the Australian Banking Association, whose chief executive Anna Bligh was a member and would have had input into the text. It read:
Recommendation 1:
“The ABA should review and strengthen its Branch Closure Protocol and introduce an ABA Customer Care Standard by mid-2023, to improve communication and support when regional branches close or their hours are being permanently and materially reduced.”
It is clear from the wording of these two recommendations and the purposes of the inquiries from which they came that the government’s intent on both occasions was that this was a mechanism put in place solely for protecting regional customers when regional branches were facing closure.
However, the drafting of the protocol has never been in the hands of the government, with the banking industry responsible for crafting what has become a carefully worded and extremely problematic document that is impossible to legally enforce.
For example, the word “regional” does not appear once in the conditions, leaving the door open for ANZ’s exploitation of the protocol to its own advantage in its response this week to the Katoomba customer.
This is exactly the reason why the recent senate inquiry into regional bank closures recommended stripping the banking industry of self-regulation.
The question is why is ANZ so determined to close this branch?
It has reversed decisions on other regional closures listed at the same time and even if it tries to fall back on Australian Bureau of Statistics classifications (only used by the government in official points of presence data since 2017 and its continued use is now under review), there is a discrepancy there, with Katoomba listed in both inner regional and major cities categories.
As a consequence, Katoomba’s regionality is a line ball.
In the past the bank may have been able to fob this off due to self-regulation but the Suncorp contract has changed the game.
This is now a legal call needs to be made by an independent umpire.
In the meantime, ANZ’s reputation continues to take a hit over its handling of the issue.
Chief executive Shayne Elliott is looking like a fool, flip-flopping from one excuse to another.
When asked about regional bank closures in parliament while giving evidence to the house standing committee on economics' hearing into the big four banks he twice failed to disclose planned closures at Katoomba and Murwillumbah, citing the Suncorp deal condition as the reason regional closures were no longer an issue for the bank;
When backed into a corner by committee chairman Daniel Mulino he told parliament these sites didn’t count because ANZ had decided to close the branches before the Suncorp condition was mentioned and the regional branch closure protocols had already been “kicked off”;
After media began reporting that the Suncorp deal was being breached he then changed his strategy and started to claim that the Katoomba branch was not regional;
Then, after again being backed into a corner by a customer and asked why the bank applied the regional closure protocols to the branch if ANZ did not consider the branch regional, the bank issued a statement saying that the protocol’s application is not an indication that the branch is regional.
It’s embarrassing.
A bigger man would put his ego aside and give this community – which clearly considers itself as regional – a break and back away from this decision instead of continuing to try and take advantage of loopholes and split hairs.
Mr Elliott’s doggedness to “win” this fight only serves to remind regional Australians of another of the recommendations to come from the senate inquiry into regional bank closures that will hopefully pave the way for a new government bank.
Competition to the big four banks is the ultimate answer to this sort of rubbish.
*
The Treasury Department was asked on Friday to clarify details in Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s June 28, 2024, statement announcing the ANZ Suncorp acquisition deal related to the “legally binding” nature of the conditions.
The Treasurer has been asked which legal jurisdiction is responsible for hearing matters related to breaches of the contract.
As yet a response has not been provided.
Stories on The Regional’s website are free to read and always will be.
If you enjoyed this article you can show your support by joining our mailing list (either by filling out the form below or sending us a message).
We'd also get very excited if you followed us on Twitter.
Comments