ASIC has announced that the Bank of Western Australia Ltd (Bankwest) has agreed to make changes to recent advertising for their Bankwest Breeze MasterCard (the Breeze MasterCard) following concerns raised by ASIC that the advertisements were misleading or likely to mislead.

ASIC has an ongoing program to monitor financial services advertisements.

Bankwest claimed in print advertisements that the Breeze MasterCard was ‘Australia’s Cheapest Credit Card’, based on a recent award the Breeze MasterCard had received from Money magazine.

ASIC reviewed the award issued by Money magazine and discovered that the Breeze MasterCard was only the cheapest credit card when compared with credit cards offered by other banks. In fact, there were some other credit card issuers (such as credit unions) that offered cheaper credit cards.

Bankwest has amended the advertisements and contacted consumers who have taken out the Breeze MasterCard since the advertisements were published to more accurately explain the nature of the claim.