SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) <ANZ.AX> has put its retail asset finance business - which provides loans for the purchase of assets such as motor vehicles, boats and caravans - under review, with a decision on its future by end-September.
Australia's third largest bank by market value attributed the move to increased technology costs and competition. Consumer asset loans represented less than 1 percent of the Melbourne-based bank's revenue, it said in a statement on Friday.
ANZ director of retail distribution Catriona Noble said in the statement the bank would assess whether it would be better to focus investments on "core" areas of the business.
The move comes at the end of the first week of an inquiry into the country's largest banks that has already uncovered serious misconduct and instances of fraud at the retail units of rivals Commonwealth Bank of Australia <CBA.AX> and National Australia Bank <NAB.AX>.
ANZ is scheduled to face the inquiry, called a Royal Commission, next week.
ANZ said in the statement it expects to complete the review by the end of September. From end of April, it will stop making new loans to Australian retail clients for purchase of assets, it said.
Asset financing for commercial customers is not impacted by the move, the bank said.
(Reporting by Paulina Duran in SYDNEY; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
