180 years and standing strong that is ANZ or Australia and New Zealand Banking Group! One of the leading banks in Australia, ANZ is making strides worldwide in providing banking solutions to retail and corporate customers. These are the 10 things that you should know about this Australian behemoth –
10 Key Things about ANZ
1. More than 10 million customers bank with ANZ! Australia’s leading bank, ANZ provides banking and financial solutions to retail and business customers. Started as the Bank of Australasia in 1835, ANZ today operates from 34 countries across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Pacific, Europe, America and Middle East. It even has a major technology and operations centre in Bangalore, India.
2. A preferred bank in Australia, ANZ has grown phenomenally over the years and it is reflected in the financial figures as well. Its net interest income rose from $11,500m in FY11 to $14,616m in FY15. Their profit distributable to shareholders also increased from $5,355m in FY11 to $7,493m in FY15. As such the shareholders received a dividend of 181c in FY15 an increase from 140c in FY11.
3. ANZ offers personal banking solutions bank accounts, credit cards, home loans, personal loans, insurance, investment management solutions & advice and travel & foreign exchange. It offers banking for business, insights and research for corporate customers and also provides special services for small business owners as well as a focus on agriculture businesses.
4. In a fast paced world where startups and small businesses are offering solutions to the world for making life easier, it has made the effort to make it easy for these businesses to set up their shop! It has collaborated with startup Honcho to help small businesses get started in one day. It is creating a Business Ready package where startups can get registrations, marketing, finance and documents all done via an online platform. ANZ has pledged $2 billion dollars for new small businesses and discounted banking packages.
5. Mobile banking has become a necessity now and it has made inroads into the mobiles world by launching its own mobile payments app called ANZ Mobile Pay. It allows customers to add any ANZ or American Express credit cards, ANZ debit cards to pay and make payments. It also has a unique app ‘HomeLoan 360’ for its 450 mobile lenders across Australia to facilitate interaction with customers requiring home loans. With such initiatives, it has a customer first focus for its business strategy.
6. Novac Djokovic is ANZ’s new brand ambassador and is teaming up for various initiatives including a charitable cause for promotion of tennis in Australia. Today it brands itself with the tagline ‘Your world, your way’ which focuses on helping people make the most of their opportunities. It is also one of Australia’s top brands and is the most valuable brand in the banking sector in Australia in 2016, according to Brand Finance.
7. With more 50,152 proud employees, it works towards creating itself as a great employer brand. It is a truly culturally diverse organization with employees from more than 130 countries who speak over 90 languages. As their Group Managing Director (Human Resources), Susie Babani puts it “We want the best talent working at ANZ – no matter who they are or where they are from. Diversity of ideas and experiences is key to our success.” They also showcase their commitment to including Indigenous Australians and people with disabilities with their Reconciliation and Disability Action Plans. It also focuses on gender diversity and has a 40.4% representation of women in management.
8. For a 180 year old bank, it has moved on with the changing times and it is reflected in the way it communicates its vision and values. In a recent move, ANZ has changed the name of its Oxford Street Branch, Sydney, Australia to GAYNZ branch. This was in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the sponsorship of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. It is also the first Australian brand and bank worldwide to collaborate with twitter to create a rainbow emoji which will appear whenever #GAYNZ is used on social media! It is a fantastic effort for any banking institution to identify itself as an inclusive and people oriented bank.
9. ANZ takes corporate social responsibility seriously and even has KPMG audit this effort every year and publishes the results. As a banking institution it not only works with the community for environmental and social causes but also propagates financial education and making banking simpler to use by all people. It has invested $78.4m and 108,142 volunteer hours towards this effort. It has worked on making its infrastructure environmentally friendly and has reduced GHG emissions (Tonnes CO2) from 166,717 in FY11 to 147,499 in FY15.
10. In New Zealand, ANZ also has a host of other brands which help New Zealanders achieve their financial goals. UDC is an asset finance company, One Path is a funds management company, ANZ Investments is an investment management business, Bonus Bonds which is New Zealand’s largest retail unit trust and ANZ Securities.
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