ANZ is scrapping its Breakfree home loan package – how does this affect you?

ANZ has announced that it will discontinue its Breakfree home loan package, removing the product from sale in March, just months after the bank was handed a $25 million fine by the corporate regulator for failing to provide customers with the package’s promised benefits.

The Breakfree home loan offered customers a discounted home loan interest rate, packaged up with extras such as offset accounts, credit cards and transaction accounts, for an annual fee of $395. Existing customers will be moved to new home loan products by September, and the package will no longer be offered for sale from 19 March.

ANZ says that, from March, it will offer three “simplified” home loan products:

• ANZ Standard Variable
• ANZ Fixed
• ANZ Simplicity Plus.

The accounts will have no ongoing fees, but customers who want an offset account will have access to one for a fee of $10 per month.

How does this move affect Breakfree package customers?

ANZ says that existing Breakfree home loan customers will be able to keep their existing package until 10 September, 2022. Once the package is discontinued on that date, ANZ says customers will keep their current discounted interest rates, but will move to a “simple fee structure” where they will only pay for features they choose to use.

Already, the product’s annual $395 package fee no longer applies – customers whose fee falls due on or after February 12, 2022 will have it waived, while customers who have paid the free from 9 September, 2021 will have it refunded.

Customers with credit cards linked to their Breakfree package currently have their fees waived. Once the package is discontinued, however, this fee waiver will no longer apply. ANZ says that it will contact customers “closer to the time” to advise what fees will apply.

Customers who wish to continue using an offset account will now pay a $10 per month fee.

ANZ Group Executive Australia Retail and Corporate Mark Hand said the new approach aims to simplify the home loan experience for customers.

“We understand customers want more choice today about how they structure their home loans and our new approach provides that while retaining a discounted interest rate and no annual package fee,” he said.

ANZ has said most other benefits of the package on eligible linked products “will continue to apply until advised otherwise”, just not as Breakfree benefits anymore.

ANZ handed $25 million penalty for deceiving customers

The bank’s move comes just months after it was handed a $25 million penalty by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), with the corporate watchdog saying the bank failed to provide promised benefits to more than 580,000 customers through offset accounts or the Breakfree package.

The regulator alleged that, between the mid-1990s and September 2021, ANZ failed to deliver on promised entitlements, including interest rate reductions. The regulator noted that, while the conduct was not deliberate, the bank still fell short of expectations.

For its part, ANZ cooperated with the ASIC investigation and admitted to making false or misleading representations to customers. Last December, the bank agreed to pay nearly $200 million in remediation to affected customers, with payments expected to be made through 2022.

Speaking in the wake of the Financial Services Royal Commission, ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said: “A constant theme of those investigations has been the failure of large financial services entities to honour agreements with customers and to ensure proper processes and systems are in place to prevent widespread compliance failures.”

Court added that ASIC will continue to take action against this kind of conduct from banks and lenders.

ANZ is the first of the big four to pull out of home loan packages

ANZ is the first of Australia’s ‘big four’ banks to get out of the packaged home loans market. At the time of writing, Commonwealth Bank offers customers a Wealth package, Westpac offers a product called Premier Advantage, while NAB offers a Choice package. All of these come with a variety of packaged extras in exchange for an annual package fee.