ANZ rate rise draws mixed reaction

ANZ would have been broadly happy yesterday with the media's reception for its rates-up, exit-fees-gone announcement.

The mere fact that the media reaction has not been uniformly hostile suggests a victory of sorts for the bank.

The sharpest criticism of the move came from Channel 10, whose overheated news report called the ANZ rate rise "a cruel pre-Christmas assault on families".

But the influential News Ltd tabloids were particularly muted in their response. They had mounted an angry and highly personal attack on CBA CEO Ralph Norris over the CBA's 4 November rate rise, accusing him of "pilfering" while declaring "War On Banks". Yesterday's page 3 Herald Sun banking article didn't even lead with the rate rise, opting instead to discuss ASIC's new exit-fee guidelines; Sydney's Daily Telegraph was similarly quiet.

The ANZ has also handed a win to Treasurer Wayne Swan. His Opposition rival, Joe Hockey, has been deriding him as "weak and ineffectual". ANZ's move has provided Swan a credible counter-claim to use in next week's parliamentary session: "we're getting rid of exit fees".

ANZ CEO Mike Smith yesterday appeared pleased to see Treasurer Wayne Swan advantaged. AAP reported Smith saying of Swan: "He may not agree with what I think and I might not agree with what he thinks, but he understands where we are coming from."

Smith's relationship with Hockey is in a far poorer state. Hockey spent time this week attacking Smith live on national television, in obvious retribution for Smith's much-reported comparison of him last month to Hugo Chavez. The two are also at odds over the ANZ's Asian expansion, which Hockey has claimed will force Australian taxpayers to guarantee overseas institutions.