The ANZ banking group has reported that 11 per cent fewer customers had
their credit card limits increased in the first six months of this year
as a result of a responsible lending code it introduced in November.
About five per cent were customers who had repeatedly missed payments
in the previous six months or had made only minimum payments. Another
six per cent were people on fixed incomes such as government pensions.
Brian Hartzer, the personal division group managing director, said ANZ
was seeking other ways to reduce financial difficulty among customers.
He said: ‘We want to get better at identifying customers who are
getting into financial difficulty at an early stage so that we can
offer assistance before their situation worsens.
‘We are also looking at ways we can design products to make it easier
for customers to manage their debt. One option is a credit card which
allows customers to transfer a part of their outstanding balance to an
instalment plan so that they can make set repayments over a specified
time.’
ANZ aims to give customers clear information about the
cost of credit. For example, an online calculator is to be offered
enabling customers to see how long it will take to pay off their debts
or the monthly payments needed to clear a balance within a given time.
