ANZ Editorial

Changes to the Federal Government Guarantee on Deposits

On 12 October 2008 the Federal Government introduced a government guarantee on deposits held in Authorised Deposit-Taking Institutions (ADI). The guarantee applies to deposits held in eligible accounts (PDF 28kB) including savings, passbook, cheque, mortgage offset and term deposits

On 24 October 2008, the Government announced that a fee will apply to obtain the benefit of the guarantee for the balance of deposits above A$1 million.

From 28 November 2008:

ANZ deposits of up to and including A$1 million (in aggregate) will continue to be automatically guaranteed by the Government without charge.
Customers who choose to guarantee deposits with ANZ of more than A$1 million will be charged a 0.7%pa fee to guarantee nominated balances above $1 million.

Am I eligible to take up the optional guarantee?
If you hold deposits with ANZ of more than A$1 million (in aggregate), you can choose to opt in to obtain the additional Government guarantee for those deposits over A$1 million. You can nominate an amount over A$1 million that you would like to guarantee. This includes customers worldwide who hold eligible ANZ accounts (PDF 28kB) Please note that opting in to obtain the benefit of the Government guarantee on deposits over A$1 million is optional and you can choose not to take up the guarantee and avoid the fee.

How does it work?

ANZ deposits of up to and including A$1 million (in aggregate) will continue to receive the automatic Australian Government guarantee without charge
From 28 November 2008, customers who choose to guarantee deposits with ANZ of more than A$1 million will be charged a 0.7%pa fee to guarantee nominated balances above $1 million.
For example, for a deposit of A$1.5 million, the first A$1 million is guaranteed without charge and a fee of 0.7% pa is paid if the customer wishes to guarantee any or all of the A$500,000 balance.
The fee is paid monthly via direct debit.
The guarantee threshold applies to the total deposits held across all eligible accounts (PDF 28kB) by each customer with ANZ.

What will happen once I submit my application?
Upon receipt of the application form, you will receive:

A phone call from ANZ to confirm your application.
A statement confirming the details of your guarantee.
A monthly statement including level of cover and fees paid.

If you have further questions about the scheme, you can download the Federal Government Guarantee on Deposits factsheet
(PDF 56kB).

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