Aussie bank, newspaper in call centre stoush

Melbourne, Oct 11 (UNI) ANZ Bank of Australia is considering legal action against a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper after a claim that the bank call centre for Australian customers is operated from Bangalore.

The ANZ Bank statement has reiterated that there is no security threat to the customer records which are held in Australia.

The statement has been issued in face of a front-page article published in 'The Daily Telegraph' alleging that the call centre is operated from Bangalore.

ANZ Chief Executive John McFarlane is on the front-foot aggressively defending his bank's history of keeping the customer's personal details and other records securely in Australia.

''Customers want to be able to talk to the staff about their banking and financial services needs, as a result we have a clear policy that all call centres for Australian customers will remain in the country,'' ANZ Cheif told reporters here.

The newspaper had also carried a photograph of the ANZ software development centre in Bangalore to imply that it was the call centre for the Australian customers, he said.

The leading Australian bank has about 1400 employees in Bangalore working principally on software development related projects.

''We are incredibly disappointed that having put this policy in place to reflect the community's interest in maintaining call centres in Australia, The Daily Telegraph should choose to misrepresent us,'' Mr McFarlane was quoted as saying by various Australian newspapers.

Mr McFarlane has also defended the privacy standards followed by the bank in India.

Virtually all of the Australian leading banks have presence in India with ANZ and Commonwealth leading the pack.

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