Groups want greater rights for consumers

The much-anticipated final report from the banking royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne QC will be released on Monday.

Consumer groups hope the banking royal commission delivers greater rights for people given loans they cannot afford amid wide-ranging reforms to stop further misconduct.

Royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne QC's final report will recommend substantial changes across the banking, superannuation and financial services industry to prevent a repeat of widespread misconduct he blamed on greed.

The report, to be released on Monday, will focus on ensuring money is lent to consumers responsibly, customer remediation, regulation and the remuneration of bank staff including executives, brokers and financial advisers.

Financial Rights Legal Centre co-ordinator Karen Cox said there needed to be more legal protections for consumers, particularly given the complexity of financial services.

"At the end of the day what we'd really like is for our financial services providers to actually look after their customers and to make a profit where it's reasonable from providing services that people actually benefit from, not from gouging their customers," Ms Cox said.

"If they can come up with a magic formula that can make that happen that would be a wonderful thing."

Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Gerard Brody said there should be greater rights for individuals when money is lent irresponsibly, pointing to examples involving car finance and credit cards, along with overdrafts in indigenous communities, that had created a lot of hardship.

He said customers might be able to get fees and interest waived but they still had to pay back the loan.

Ms Cox said one way to address a lack of compliance with responsible lending regulations was to set clearer outcomes for the people affected by it.

"I don't expect anyone to get a free house but for there to be some forgiveness of debt as part of the remedy I think would help in terms of providing an incentive for lenders to actually comply," she said.

"Clearly expecting the regulator to be the cop on every single block in town is never going to be enough. We really need to get the incentives right."

Banks have already tightened lending standards in response to the year-long inquiry and regulator measures, but the final report is expected to lead to further restrictions in the availability of credit with banks expected to do more to verify customers' financial situations.

Consumer advocates want loopholes and exemptions in the laws filled and fixed, such as the life insurance carve-out from banned commissions for advisers.

Ms Cox wants action over the sale of "junk" insurance products such as funeral and accident cover.

"We see client after client who have policies that in a lot of circumstances are very bad value, sometimes completely useless to them, and these are often people who struggle to put food on their table and yet they're paying for pointless financial products."


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world