Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has paid penalties to Australian Securities and Investments Commission totalling A$212,500 for breaching responsible lending laws. ASIC explained, in a statement detailing the reason for the fine, that five separate infringement notices had been issued to ANZ in the wake of offers for an overdraft facility known as 'ANZ Assured' that were made to some customers between November 2014 and January 2015.At that time, ANZ sent written offers to certain customers to enter into the overdraft facility with a specified limit of $500 or $1,000.  The offers could be accepted by either mail, phone, internet banking or attending at a branch in person.ASIC found that the customers offered a $500 limit were not given an option to elect a different overdraft amount; and customers offered a $1,000 limit were not given an alternative limit option if they responded to the offer via mail or in person at a branch.These failures by ANZ were in breach of its obligation to make reasonable inquiries about the credit limit a customer requires, ASIC said, noting the new rules were to ensure that consumers could select the credit limit that met their needs, particularly if they wanted a lower credit limit than that on offer.  ASIC also noted that payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the National Credit Act.In response, an ANZ spokesman told Banking Day: "ANZ has fully cooperated with ASIC's investigation and we apologise to any impacted customers."From January 2015 all customers have been able to choose between two credit limit options of either $500 or $1000 when applying for our assured overdraft product. All applications remain subject to a full credit assessment."ANZ continually works with all appropriate regulators to ensure our practices are in line with responsible lending legislation," the bank's spokesman observed.