The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has urged lenders to keep improving hardship support for customers, despite welcome progress since last year’s review.
ASIC commissioner Kate O’Rourke (pictured) said lenders had lifted standards following Report 782 Hardship, hard to get help, with improvements detailed in the follow-up Report 815 Hardship, not so hard to get help.
“Since our review, we have seen lenders work to uplift their hardship practices and to better support their customers experiencing hardship,” O’Rourke said in a media release. “However, we have some concerns about the overall quality of lenders’ hardship responses.”
O’Rourke warned that some banks and non-banks were still taking a “cookie-cutter” approach rather than tailoring support to individual needs.
“We urge all lenders to adopt a proactive, continuous improvement approach to supporting their customers experiencing financial hardship, and to ensure adequate focus on customer experience and outcomes in their practices,” she said.
ASIC has also stepped up enforcement, with penalties already imposed on NAB and cases underway against ANZ, Westpac, and non-bank lender Resimac over alleged hardship failings.
In August, the Federal Court ordered NAB to pay a $15.5 million penalty for not responding to hardship notices on time. In September, ASIC and ANZ sought a $40 million penalty for similar breaches.
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