Concerning the ABA’s application to remove conditions from basic bank account conduct
Our response to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on this issue is supported by the Financial Rights Legal Centre and CHOICE.
We are interested parties in the application by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) to revoke Authorisation AA1000441-2 (2019 Authorisation) and substitute Authorisation AA1000683 (New Authorisation).
We recommend that the conduct in the New Authorisation is granted. However we strongly recommend that the same conditions as the 2019 Authorisation must continue to apply (as amended upon application by the Australian Banking Association in 2020). We do not support reducing the reporting condition from annually to every second year.
There is no justification for lightening requirements on the member banks given the systemic failings to identify and migrate eligible customers, particularly First Nations customers, outlined in the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC’s) 2024 Better Banking for Indigenous Consumers Project report (REP 785). In one 12-month period, ASIC identified over $6 million charged in unnecessary fees to eligible customers, and the participating banks have committed to refunding $28 million to customers as a result of the report.
Basic bank accounts are a valuable product and essential to the financial wellbeing of low- and no-income customer groups. We are strongly supportive of the ABA and its members meeting their obligations under the Banking Code of Conduct (the Code) to offer no fee accounts to eligible customers.
Read our full submission (PDF).
Consumer Action response to Application AA1000683 1