Category: ANZ

“Last week, Consumer Confidence increased 0.8 points, taking the series to its highest level since January 2023,” ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said.

“Confidence is sitting just below 85 points, a ceiling it has been unable to break through for 19 months.

“In the 1990s recession, confidence stayed below 85 points for nine months. This week’s rise in confidence was driven by an improvement in household confidence in the economic outlook.

“Confidence about the next 12 months rose 2.7 points and confidence about the next five years lifted 3.0 points. Both were at

their highest levels since Q1 this year. This may be related to last week’s stronger-than-expected labour market data, which showed employment had increased by more than 143,000 in three months, with participation at a record high. This may be easing fear of job losses.

“We expect the labour market to remain resilient and see only a modest lift in the unemployment rate to 4.4 per cent.”

ANZ has successfully closed an USD1.35b Green Labeled K-Sure covered Term Loan Facility for Hyundai Motor Group, funding its first electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in the US, as the world’s third largest car manufacturer continues to invest in the country.

It will help accelerate Hyundai Motor Company’s electrification strategy with an expected manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units annually at its Georgia Metaplant complex.

The Green Export Credit Agency (ECA) backed loan adheres to LMA Green Loan Principles, and reinforces ANZ as a key financing partner for Hyundai Motor Group, acting as ECA and Green Loan Coordinator, Mandated Lead Arranger, and Bookrunner on its past three mandates.

Aaron Ross, ANZ’s Global Head of Project, Export & Asset Finance said, “These deals underscore ANZ’s market-leading position in the Korean ECA sector, delivering low risk, capital-efficient and high-returning facilities that meet our customer needs. We have executed four major EV sector transactions backed by Korean ECAs in the past five years.

“We’re proud to play a role in supporting Hyundai Motor Group’s capital expenditure initiatives as it strives to become a global leader in electric vehicle manufacturing. Leveraging our expertise across Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and the US, we have been able to consistently deliver smart solutions by integrating sustainable finance to meet Hyundai Motor Group’s strategic and evolving needs,” Mr Ross said.

Previous deals with Hyundai Motor Group include:

• USD 940 million K-Sure-backed deal for Hyundai Mobis’ EV parts plant located within the Georgia Metaplant complex
• USD 711 million ECA financing to establish South-East Asia’s first and largest EV battery manufacturing facility in Indonesia
• SGD 230 million green loan to finance the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore

ANZ has set a target to fund and facilitate at least $A100 billion by the end of FY2030, including $A15 billion by end FY2024, in social and environmental outcomes through customer activities and direct investments by ANZ. This includes initiatives that aim to help lower carbon emissions, protect nature, increase access to affordable housing and promote financial wellbeing, as described in the target methodology.

The project, located in the suburb of Woree, will deliver 490 purpose-built residences including 245 social housing apartments, 223 affordable homes, and 22 specialist disability accommodation (SDA) apartments, ensuring a comprehensive range of housing solutions for diverse community needs.

Supported by the Australian Government and the Queensland Government, it forms part of the State’s Homes for Queenslanders plan and contributes to the target of delivering one million new homes, including 53,500 social homes, by 2046. FCC Construction Australia and Modscape have commenced construction with completion expected in 2026.

ANZ will provide funding for the project alongside Housing Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF). Housing Australia will offer a grant through the National Housing Infrastructure Facility.

The precinct will also be supported by funding through the Housing Investment Fund and lending from ANZ, Housing Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF). NAIF will also provide a capital grant. Tetris Capital and Community Housing Limited (CHL) will continue their partnership to deliver and manage social and affordable homes across Australia.

Once completed, the precinct will feature energy-efficient one- and two-bedroom homes for people over 55 and those with disabilities. The precinct will offer independent living support in an inclusive environment with amenity such as landscaped gardens, picnic areas, BBQs, and playgrounds.

ANZ Group Executive, Institutional, Mark Whelan said: “At ANZ, we are committed to increasing the supply of social and affordable housing, with a target to fund and facilitate $10 billion of investment in more affordable, accessible and sustainable homes to buy or rent by 2030.”

“Affordable housing is an issue best addressed by partnerships between the public and private sectors. We are ambitious when it comes to finding innovative solutions and helping the market to adapt and grow. We’re helping to change the market by delivering more of the right housing, in the right locations and at the right price point.

“We are firmly committed to supporting more housing projects, especially in Queensland. The delivery of these 490 new social and affordable homes fulfills the first part of many of those commitments we have made as part of our acquisition of Suncorp Bank,” Mr Whelan said.

Ryan Slocombe, Principal, Tetris Capital said: “Our mission is to deliver projects that not only meet immediate needs but also create long-term value for communities across Australia. The Cairns project is a perfect example of how we turn visionary ideas into impactful realities and address critical social and infrastructure challenges effectively.

“We’re pleased to partner with ANZ to help deliver Queensland’s largest ever social and affordable housing development which is also Cairns’ largest apartment development and Australia’s largest modular construction housing project,” Mr Slocombe said.

“Consumer Confidence rose 1.8 points to an eight-week high, remaining just below the mid-July peak,” ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said.

“The increase was broad-based, with current financial conditions being the only subindex to decline.

“The future financial conditions subindex increased 3.1 points to a six-month high. Households were feeling more confident about the economic outlook.

“Momentum has diverged across the housing cohorts. Since late-August, the four-week moving average of confidence for households who own their home outright has lifted 1.7 points, whereas it fell 1.3 points for renters and 0.2 points for those 

paying off a mortgage.

“While renters remain more confident than those with a mortgage, the gap between the two groups is narrowing.”

“Consumer Confidence has plateaued, with the four-week moving average largely steady since early August,” ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said.

“Weekly confidence is currently 2.1 points below the July peak of 84.4 points, which marked a six-month high in the series. The Stage 3 tax cuts and cost-of-living relief do not appear to be progressively boosting households’ confidence.

“We are, however, seeing a sustained improvement in inflation expectations which were stable at a 32-month low of 4.6 per cent. Lower petrol prices may be supporting this shift.

“The result is likely be welcomed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, with Governor Michele Bullock noting last week that having well-anchored inflation expectations helps to stabilise the economy, support economic growth and create more jobs.”

The addition of Cashrewards builds on the growing list of Add-Ons already available in ANZ Plus, including Qantas Frequent Flyer, Visa ATM Finder, Money Map, Spending and Money In & Out.

Maile Carnegie, Group Executive Australia Retail said: “Add-Ons enable our customers to enhance and personalise their banking experience with a mix of smart money management tools from ANZ and third-party partners. 

“Integrating Cashrewards with ANZ Plus makes the cashback process simpler and more convenient for our customers, saving them time, and importantly, it can help customers save money on their everyday purchases.”

Cashrewards is Australia’s leading cashback program. In 2023, top Cashrewards earners received an average of $400 cashback.  ANZ customers have earned more than $50 million cashback through Cashrewards to date. 85 per cent of Cashrewards members surveyed believe the program helps them with their financial position.  

Anthony Seymour-Walsh, Cashrewards Chief Executive Officer said, “We’re proud of our partnership with ANZ and the new Cashrewards integration to the ANZ Plus Add-On experience.

“ANZ Plus customers can now earn cashback on everyday purchases like groceries, fuel, travel, marketplace, fashion, and view their Cashrewards available to withdraw balance from directly within the ANZ Plus app. We are excited to help more Australian households make their household budgets stretch further,” he said.

The Cashrewards Add-On is now available to all ANZ Plus customers.

ANZ Plus customers who join Cashrewards via the Add-On and make a qualifying shop can earn a $30 Welcome Bonus (T&Cs apply). Once customers have the Add-On, they will be able to shop and earn cashback on everyday purchases like groceries, fuel and travel. They can also view their Cashrewards available to withdraw balance alongside their day-to-day banking.

To learn more, visit Add-Ons (anz.com.au)

Over the next twelve months, ICAN will upskill community professionals nationally on how to use MoneyBusiness financial education content to better support their clients.

MoneyBusiness is an ANZ initiative, developed to build the money management skills and confidence of Indigenous Australians.

ANZ developed MoneyBusiness in partnership with the Australian Government in 2005, following research which showed that financial exclusion was a significant problem among Indigenous communities. The program is estimated to have reached more than 90,000 First Nations people in 215 communities.

ANZ Head of Social Impact and Community Janet Liu said: “We’re proud MoneyBusiness has again been recognised for its contribution to the financial wellbeing of so many Indigenous Australians.”

“Financial wellbeing is a critical part of maintaining strong, thriving communities. We’re looking forward to working with ICAN and Federal Government on this expansion support more Indigenous Australians build on their financial skills,” said Liu.

ICAN CEO Aaron Davis said: “ICAN is committed to supporting financial wellbeing organsations build their workforce capacity through our registered training organisation, ICAN Learn.”

“As an organisation that provides financial counselling and capability services in regional Australia, ICAN knows how important it is to create local employment pathways and how much programs like MoneyBusiness can assist in that journey.”

“ICAN’s focus of developing the Indigenous financial capability workforce nationally through targeted training initiatives aligns perfectly with the goals of the MoneyBusiness program.”

For more detail about the training, including eligibility and delivery location please contact ICAN Learn at moneybusiness@icanlearn.edu.au or via phone 03 5471 777.

About MoneyBusiness

MoneyBusiness brings together ANZ’s knowledge and experience in financial literacy and the Australian Government’s overview of service delivery. ANZ developed a comprehensive set of community workshop materials in consultation with local communities and Indigenous workers who ensured the information was culturally appropriate and relevant to the target audience.

The program is delivered by ANZ and its community partners, including ICAN and the Federal Government.

About ICAN

ICAN provides consumer education, advocacy, and financial counselling services to people across north and far north Queensland. In 2017 ICAN created, ICAN Learn, a registered training organisation to build vocational education pathways for its Team, Community and the national Financial Wellbeing Sector more broadly. Building the capacity of these three distinct groups is a crucial step for ICAN to:

• Develop career pathways within ICAN for First Nations peoples and financial counsellors servicing First Nations communities.
• Provide quality financial wellbeing services to First Nations communities and employment/economic development programs.
• Develop career pathways throughout the financial wellbeing sector, prioritising the professionalisation of the national financial capability workforce.

This regional expansion comes among a suite of new tools and features including offset accounts, insights to help customers own their home sooner and the ability for customers to apply to take cash out of their home equity for home improvements, vehicle purchases or other lifestyle expenses.

Maile Carnegie, Group Executive Australia Retail said: “As we continue to build on our ANZ Plus home lending offering, we’re able to provide customers with more personalisation and features to help them better understand their home loans and improve their financial wellbeing.

“Owning a home is one of the biggest financial commitments most people will make in their lifetime, and we believe the process of finding the right home loan should be as easy and convenient as possible. The expanded eligibility, along with the addition of new features, like Home Loan Insights, offset and our upgraded website which allows customers to get a valuation for their property before applying, enables more customers to interact with ANZ Plus.”

The new ANZ Plus Home Loan features include:

A new offset feature allows customers to use their eligible ANZ Plus everyday account balances to reduce the interest they pay on their ANZ Plus Home Loan. The offset can be turned off and on as needed. A monthly fee of $10 applies.

ANZ Plus home loan customers can now apply to access home equity for home improvement, a vehicle purchase or other lifestyle expenses. This feature builds on ANZ’s commitment to support financial wellbeing, making it easier for customers to access funds to improve their homes and lives.

A new Insights tab shows customers how far ahead on their home loan they are and presents three simple steps they can take to get further ahead – make a lump sum payment, increase auto-repayments and turn on offset. Customers are shown an estimate of how much time will be shaved off their final loan repayment date as they make these changes, helping them to own their home sooner.  

• Explore via the web

Potential customers can explore the ANZ Plus Home Loan offer via the website, see estimated repayments and get a valuation for their property, and if right for them, transition to the ANZ Plus app where their loan preferences will be saved and ready for them when they join ANZ Plus. 

Since launch, ANZ Plus has expanded its home lending eligibility by increasing the maximum loan value to $2 million, allowing Foreign Tax residents and permanent residents to apply and expanding locations to include eligible properties in five states and territories.

The end-to-end digital home lending process can be completed quickly and easily within the ANZ Plus mobile app including selfie verification before customers electronically sign their loan documents.

Built by ANZ, ANZ Plus continues to be one of the fastest growing digital banking platforms in Australia, with more than $15 billion in deposits and 800,000 customers, 41% of whom are new to ANZ.

For more information visit: https://www.anz.com.au/plus

About ANZ Plus: 

• ANZ Plus utilises modern technology, resulting in the delivery of not just a new app or new product offering, but a new retail banking platform for ANZ.
• ANZ Plus launched its first transact and save products to customers in 2022, with the initial home loan added late-2023

 

About ANZ Plus home lending:

• The ANZ Plus Home Loan Variable is digital-first, data-driven, highly automated and supported by ANZ Plus Coaches. With ANZ Plus home lending eligible customers who wish to refinance can:
  • Verify their identity in a few minutes via the app with no paper required.
  • See a valuation of their home, so they can apply with confidence knowing it’s the valuation used to assess their application.
  • Receive their loan documents – written in simple language – in seconds.
  • Access ANZ Plus Coaches who are on hand to help via chat, phone or secure in-app video call.

“Consumer Confidence has moved within a tight range over the past four weeks, with the series retaining most of the increases seen in late July and early August.” ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said.

“Households’ confidence in their future financial situation rose to a five-month high last week and is now back in ‘positive’ territory.”

“This is the only subindex currently sitting above 100 points. Inflation expectations also eased 0.2 percentage point to 4.6 per cent, its lowest reading since late 2021.”

“The shift in these indicators may be linked to last week’s monthly inflation data, which showed a fall in both headline and trimmed mean inflation. After accelerating earlier in 2024, inflation appears to be back on the path to target.”