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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
HSBC has been forced to change its current “Let’s Bankercise” advertising campaign, after ASIC deemed the ads "potentially misleading".
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The ads claimed consumers could receive ‘up to 0.95 per cent p.a. off a HSBC Home Smart Loan’. The ads also stated that the minimum loan amount for the offer was $250,000.
However, in the fine print it was disclosed that only loans of $1,500,000 or larger were eligible for the full 0.95 per cent discount, with smaller loan amounts starting from $250,000 receiving smaller discounts.
ASIC was concerned that as the loan amount that applied to the 0.95 per cent discount was very large and was not prominently disclosed in the ad, consumers may be misled into believing they would receive a higher discount than what was actually available to them.
HSBC has agreed to change the wording to more clearly disclose the discounts on offer.
“Advertisements should give balanced information to ensure the overall effect creates realistic expectations about a financial product or service," ASIC Commissioner Peter Kell said.
“We do not consider that a promoter can rely on statements such as ‘up to’ if, in fact, the offer being promoted is only available in limited circumstances and this is not prominently disclosed.”
Mr Kell reminded promoters that ASIC will be regularly reviewing ads, following on from the recent release of Regulatory Guide 234 Advertising financial products and advice services.
“ASIC’s guidance will help industry participants understand their obligations but we are also sending a message that we will take action in response to misleading ads for financial products and services,’ Mr Kell said.
