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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Abacus Australian Mutuals has been forced to review its television advertising campaign after concerns were raised by the industry regulator.
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Earlier this week, the Australian Securities Investment Commission raised concerns about Abacus' representation of home loan savings and comparisons with other banks.
ASIC commissioner Dr Peter Boxall said the regualtor was particularly concerned about how the comparison was presented.
“ASIC raised with Abacus that they may not have clearly and prominently disclosed the types of interest rates and the selected number of credit unions and building societies used in the comparison,” Mr Boxall said.
‘We were also concerned that the comparison may not have used an appropriate point-in-time selection to calculate savings, and that consumers were not warned that any savings may be affected by future changes in interest rates.”
While Abacus has since agreed to make changes to the campaign in consultation with ASIC, the company’s chief executive Louise Petschler said the comparisons made to date were fair and, in many instances, conservative.
“Abacus has worked with ASIC to ensure that the messages and content of the campaign are clearly disclosed. We are confident that our first ads did this as we tested them carefully – our industry code and values require us to be honest and upfront,” Ms Petschler said.
“Over four and a half million Australians already bank with a credit union or mutual building society. We know many consumers are worried about competition in banking. We want to encourage more people to take a look at our strong, safe and competitive banking option.”
