ANZ

Judges’ comment

We found it encouraging to see how well you embraced the task before you. You clearly made a fabulous push to meet the deadline imposed on you. You took a sensible approach and involved the stakeholders well. You used simple language and spoke to the reader using ‘you’.

We noticed that your entry focused largely on the bank, rather than on the difference this project made for the bank’s customers. We felt this was a missed opportunity. Your entry would have been stronger if it had focused more clearly on how the customer benefited. Ideally, you would have quantified this in some way. For example, does the bank now get fewer calls for help with bank documents? Are fewer forms filled out incorrectly? What sort of customer feedback resulted from the project?

Media statement

ANZ welcomes being chosen as a finalist for Plain English Champion — Best Project for our Consumer Law Reform project.

One of the most significant consumer law reforms in over 10 years took effect earlier this year. As part of our project to implement the legislative changes, we rewrote into plain English all of our consumer credit contracts, including our home and personal loan, credit card, and overdraft agreements.

We are New Zealand’s largest bank and largest home lender. So, we’ve taken a stand about what a responsible lender should do and set a clear benchmark for the industry. We are the only major bank in New Zealand to carry the WriteMark on all of our consumer credit contracts, so it’s fantastic to be recognised for this work.