Banking and Finance - Consumer Action Law Centre

Submission: Early Termination Fees under Consumer Leases

Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to comment on Treasury's discussion paper on early termination fees under consumer leases. In this submission: we welcome attempts to improve transparency an...

Media release: Consumer Action welcomes High Court ruling on bank penalty fees

Consumer Action has welcomed today's High Court ruling which found that a number of different bank fees are capable of being considered unlawful penalties. The Centre, whose predecessor Consumer Law C...

Submission: Response to draft regulations to support the Consumer Credit Enhancements Bill 2012

Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to comment on Regulations to support provisions in the Consumer Credit Legislation Amendment (Enhancements) Bill 2012. Briefly, we have serious concerns about...

Media release: Consumer Credit Legislation Amendment Bill offers mixed bag for consumers

Consumer advocates today acknowledged the passing of the Consumer Credit Legislation Amendment (Enhancements) Bill 2012 (the Enhancements Bill) by the Australian Parliament, but were disappointed at t...

Media release: Bulk complaint made against Motor Finance Wizard to the Credit Ombudsman Service

The Consumer Action Law Centre has assisted consumers to lodge a bulk complaint against DTGV1 Pty Ltd (which trades as Motor Finance Wizard in Victoria). Gerard Brody, Director of Policy and Campaign...

Submission: ASIC Consultation Paper 178 and ASIC’s draft good practice guidance on advertising credit products and services

Consumer Action strongly supports draft Regulatory Guide 234. In particular we support ASIC's position that advertisements should give clear, accurate and balanced messages and allow consumers to make...

Media release: New report shows why greater consumer protections are needed in payday lending

The Consumer Action Law Centre has written to the Minister for Financial Services, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, and members of the Senate in a last ditch attempt to get vital consumer protections introduc...

Consumer Affairs Victoria issues warning about maths tutoring software

Consumer Affairs Victoria says parents of school children should be wary about aggressive selling methods of maths tutorial software. Some of these programs cost nearly $8000 and are marketed by sale...

July 2012

Home help has strings attached The Age, 25 July 2012, John Kavanagh Unpaid power bills going up The Age, 17 July 2012, Rachel Wells Avoid the stress zone on your home loan Sydney Morning Hera...

Submission: Submission to the Victorian Government’s consultation on the domestic building consumer protection framework

Broadly, this submission: argues that the nature of domestic building transactions mean that specialised and strengthened consumer protections are required; recommends that the entire consumer prot...

Media release: Credit Enhancements Bill a ‘win’ for payday lenders

Consumer advocates and financial counsellors have lamented the lost opportunity to effectively protect vulnerable Australians from exploitative payday and short term loans. While pleased that the Gov...

Media release: Credit limit regulations so soft they’re almost redundant

The Consumer Action Law Centre has lamented that federal regulations designed to limit the harm caused by unsolicited credit limit increase offers have been watered down to the point where they are al...

Media release: ‘Payment protection plan’ sold by The Cash Store offers borrower little protection

Consumer Action Law Centre and the Consumer Credit Legal Centre NSW have questioned whether it was appropriate for payday loan broker The Cash Store to sell a ‘payment protection plan’—a loan insuranc...

June 2012

Thrifty moves for plastic users The Age, 27 June2012, Clancy Yeates Warning as banks try hard-sell approach to credit card customers Herald Sun, 19 June 2012, Karina Barrymore Millions of Aust...

Submission: Response to Commonwealth Government discussion paper on reducing reliance on payday lending

This submission: Expresses significant concerns with the way the payday lending problem is framed in the discussion paper. In particular, we do not agree that high-cost short-term lending is a neces...

What if I have been sued for a debt?

Key message Act quickly to get advice if you have been sued for a debt in the Magistrate’s Court of Victoria. The Magistrates Court Process If the amount owed is $100,000 or less, a creditor...

Submission: Inquiry into the post-GFC banking sector

This submission makes the following brief points: that the development of an independent measure of the cost of bank funding (including offshore wholesale funding, and deposits), regularly reported...

Submission: Inquiry into the post-GFC banking sector

Rather than responding to each point of the Committee's terms of reference, this submission makes the following brief points: that the development of an independent measure of the cost of bank fundi...

Credit limit offers in the spotlight

We've all seen letters or messages from banks trying to entice us to increase our credit card limits. They come in a range or forms from Congratulations, you’ve been pre-approved, to Increase your cre...

Media release: ATM Taskforce delivers for remote communities, but more needs to be done

The Federal Government’s ATM Taskforce has delivered a mixed bag for consumers in its reports on transparency and competition according to the Consumer Action Law Centre. The Centre lauded moves to ab...

Media release: Linked credit case could cast doubt on more NAB student loans

The Consumer Action Law Centre has lodged a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) against the National Australia Bank (NAB) and is seeking to have its client’s NAB student loan terminat...

Submission: Proposed amendments to the Consumer Credit and Corporations Legislation Amendment (Enhancements) Bill 2011

In brief, this submission recommends: With regards to hardship variations that Government consider providing detailed guidance to credit providers, perhaps through ASIC, to assist them to better a...

Joint submission: Consumer protections for users of payday loans

The following is a joint submission in response to Treasury's April 2012 discussion paper on proposed reforms to Small Amount Credit Contracts. This submission has been prepared by Consumer Action La...

Policy report: Profiling for profit – a report on target marketing and profiling practices in the credit industry

The marketing of products and services to consumers who are likely to be interested in the offer, or to be profitable for the business, is not new. However, with the development of more sophisticated...

Media release: Revised payday lending Bill puts profits before people

The Consumer Action Law Centre has condemned the Federal Government’s proposed amendments to its Credit Enhancements Bill, calling them a cave in to industry lobbying and lamenting a lost opportunity...

Media release: Consumer group says Cash Converters’ process need formal investigation

The Consumer Action Law Centre has asked the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to undertake a formal investigation into the internal dispute resolution processes of Cash Converter...

Media release: Ombudsman asked to consider lending practices of payday loan provider

Consumer Action is lodging another dispute against a high profile payday loan provider. The most recent dispute, being lodged on behalf of Ms Jane Bowyer with the Credit Ombudsman Service, alleges The...

Community lawyers claim The Cash Store’s holiday marketing is irresponsible

A new advertisement from one of Australia’s leading payday loan brokers, The Cash Store, has raised the ire of two community legal centres, who fear the advert may result in many Victorian’s entering...

Media release: Community lawyers claim The Cash Store’s holiday marketing is irresponsible

Media release: Committee’s report shows responsible lending laws aren’t enough

The Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the finding from a parliamentary committee of inquiry that Australia’s responsible lending laws don’t sufficiently protect consumers from harmful payday loa...

Media release: Time for the Federal Opposition to show its hand on payday lending reforms

A coalition of consumer groups has called on the Federal Opposition to back the Government’s proposed national credit reforms, which are designed to protect payday loan borrowers from effective intere...

Media release: Consumer Action welcomes ASIC investigation into broker responsible lending conduct

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the release of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission's (ASIC) investigation into mortgage brokers' responsible lending conduct, focusing on ‘low d...

Media release: Government warned that new credit card regulation may require running repairs

The Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Federal Government’s ban on credit providers making unsolicited credit card limit increase offers to customers, but believes that ambiguity in the regul...

Media release: Payday lending practices challenged in court

The lending practices of Australian’s biggest payday lender, Cash Converters, are being challenged in proceedings issued in the Victorian Magistrates Court. A disability support pensioner is alleging...

Media release: New website delivers the cold hard and sad facts about payday lending

A coalition of consumer and financial counselling organisations has launched a new website to ensure the hard truths are heard in the debate about the future of short term high cost loans - www.debttr...

Media release: Government reforms offer a branch to consumers stuck in high cost short term lending quicksand

The Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Federal Government’s proposed cap on the amounts lenders of high cost short term loans (often referred to as 'payday loans') can recover from consumers,...

Media release: 400 per cent interest rates undermine ‘responsible lending laws’

Exorbitant effective interest rates on short term loans, upwards of 400 per cent, continue to put the pinch on vulnerable Australians despite the introduction of responsible lending laws in 2010. Mis...

Submission: Reserve Bank of Australia – Treasury ATM Taskforce consultations

Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the RBA-Treasury ATM Taskforce's report on the March 2009 ATM reforms. The March 2009 reforms can be considered a broad success, both because...

Submission: National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011 – exposure draft

Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to comment on the exposure draft of the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011, setting out the proposed amendment to ban exit fees on...

Submission: Exposure Draft – National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011

Submission: Financial Services Working Group – Corporations Amendment Regulations 2009

Consumer Action is a strong supporter of the objectives of the Financial Services Working Group in endeavouring to make financial services product disclosure simpler and more meaningful for consumers,...

Submission: Access Regime for the ATM System

Consumer Action supports the RBA’s efforts to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of payments systems in Australia, including the ATM system. As the Consultation notes, interchange fee amounts...

Joint submission: Review of the Code of Banking Practice 2007-2008

CHOICE and Consumer Action support and endorse the joint consumer submission to the Review of the Code of Banking Practice. This submission concentrates on the issue of bank penalty fees in more detai...

Submission: Inquiry into competition in the banking and non-banking sectors

Consumer Action is pleased to make a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics inquiry into competition in the banking and non-banking sectors. Our submission conside...

Submission: Financial Services and Credit Reform Green Paper

Consumer Action strongly supports Option 2 proposed on page 12 of the Green Paper, where the Commonwealth Government would assume responsibility, not only for mortgage credit and advice, but also for...

Submission: Reform of Australia’s payments system

Consumer Action is supportive of the approach by the Reserve Bank of Australia to the electronic payments system and we welcome the pragmatism of the RBA in stepping in and regulating interchange fees...

Submission: Inquiry into Australia’s Mandatory Last Resort Home Warranty Insurance Schemes

Consumer Action welcomes the Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into Australia’s Mandatory Last Resort Home Building Warranty Insurance (HBWI) schemes. We have long been concerned that the mandatory H...

Media release: Time well overdue for banks to cut their excessive penalty fees

Consumer Action Law Centre has written to the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) and Abacus Australian Mutuals demanding that banks, credit unions and building societies put a stop to penalty fees t...

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