ANZ has today announced it will begin implementing a range of initiatives to help improve the quality of financial planning and customer remediation when things go wrong.
The bank will remove all sales incentives for financial planning bonuses, speed up customer remediation, quickly remove planners who provide inappropriate advice, and demand new professional standards.
Under the new initiatives, the bank will only assess performance based on customer satisfaction, ANZ values, and risk and compliance standards.
The bank will quickly identify and remove planners who provide inappropriate advice and will terminate the contracts of those who fail two audits.
ANZ will only employ new planners with a relevant undergraduate degree and industry certification, and require existing planners to be enrolled in further necessary training by January 2019.
It has also committed to completing compensation on about 9000 current inappropriate advice cases by the end of the year.
Lastly, ANZ will offer an advice review, at no expense, for any of its financial planning customers who may have concerns about their current financial position.
Commenting on the new measures, ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliot said: “Financial advice is an important part of the services we offer, but it’s also an area where we’ve failed some of our customers.
“We know it has taken too long for changes to occur, so where we see solutions we will act.
“That’s why we are getting on with these initiatives now.”
Elliot said it was important customers feel confident in the quality and trustworthiness of seeking advice, which in turn will allow them to save for retirement.
