IF, owned by Halifax, published a newspaper advert headlined "Now The No1 Direct Bank in the UK." IF also said in the ad: "We've become one of the UK's largest mortgage lenders with more than 10% market share and over 500,000 accounts have been opened with us."
First Direct challenged the advert saying that it did not believe IF was the largest net mortgage lender with the most accounts.
IF rejected First Direct's claims, arguing that the advert was based on asset balances at the end of 2001. The bank also pointed out that the advert claimed "one of the UK's largest mortgage lenders", not "the UK's largest mortgage lender", and therefore it did not imply IF had the most accounts.
IF further claimed it believed the ad made a clear and fair comparison. To prove its point, the bank sent to the ASA a table listing the asset balances for direct banks whose figures were separated from their parent companies' annual reports and accounts.
However, First Direct was not included in the list, since its figures were not published separately from its parent HSBC.
The ASA confirmed that IF stated in the advert that its claims were based on 2001 figures. However it found that the statement was not linked to the headline and excluded First Direct anyway. Therefore, the ASA said, the comparison with other banks was not clear and fair.
The ASA also found that the advert could mislead consumers to believe that the claim "now the No1 direct bank" related to all internet, telephone and postal banks without a branch network.
IF was ordered top stop running the advert and not repeat the claim unless it held "documentary evidence to prove it and had ensured that the elements of the comparison were not selected in a way that gave [IF] an artificial advantage."
The ASA adjudication, published today, can be found here