HSBC home loan advert "potentially misleading"
HSBC Bank Australia has changed the advertising for its current "Let's Bankercise" home loan campaign in response to Australian Securities and Investments Commission concern the advert was potentially misleading.The advertisement featured a headline claim that consumers could receive up to 95 basis points off an HSBC Home Start Loan.The fine print disclosed that the 95-point discount was only available for loans of $1.5 million or more. Smaller loans would receive smaller discounts.ASIC said in a statement issued yesterday that it was concerned that, as the loan amount that applied to the 95 point discount was very large and was not prominently disclosed in the advert, consumers might be misled into believing they would receive a higher discount than was actually available to them.ASIC said: "Advertisements should give balanced information to ensure the overall effect creates realistic expectations about a financial product or service."