COVID-19 deferral credit reporting for customers
4 February 2021
New Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) laws will lead to better deals for customers with a good credit history and better support for those experiencing financial difficulty.
The Australian Banking Association has welcomed the passage of the new mandatory regime through parliament.
“Households and small businesses will get better access to finance as a result of these welcome changes”, said Australian Banking Association CEO, Anna Bligh.
“More information is better for customers as it gives lenders a more comprehensive picture of a customer’s financial situation.”
Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) expands the information banks must report to credit agencies about the credit history of their customers. It means lenders will have more detail, and more context, including about positive financial behaviour.
“More information is better for customers as it gives lenders a more comprehensive picture of a customer’s financial situation.”
ABA CEO Anna Bligh
Prior to CCR, a credit report was only required to have credit inquiries, defaults and serious infringements. The additional information shared under the mandatory regime includes account open and closed dates, types of credit, credit limits, financial hardship information and up to 24 months of repayment history information.
“Having more information on their credit history means customers will have greater choice and more opportunity”, she said.
“This is also good news for customers experiencing financial difficulty. Now, more context will help ensure customers’ credit histories are more accurate and reliable.”
Banks have well established programs to assist customers experiencing financial difficulty which can include measures to help them manage their repayments. It is important customers come forward to tell their bank when they need financial assistance.
There are strong benefits in having more information on a customer’s credit report, especially by demonstrating a customer is working with their bank to get back on their feet.
Latest news
Transcript
Anna Bligh interview on The Project about scams
Read more
26 July 2024
Georgie Tunny: Anna Bligh is CEO of the Australian Banking Association. And we’ve heard so many examples of scammers infiltrating customers existing phone message threads from banks. If people can’t trust the bank’s own correspondence, what hope do they have? Anna Bligh: The stories that you’ve run this week have been absolutely heartbreaking. And I hear… Read more »
Media Releases
ABA backs national awareness campaign on elder abuse
Read more
22 July 2024
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the Federal Government’s upcoming campaign to further educate the community about elder abuse. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said this was a timely opportunity to further raise awareness and shine the spotlight on financial elder abuse. “Australian banks are deeply conscious of financial elder abuse. They see it playing out every day and have… Read more »
Current Technical Outage
Read more
19 July 2024
Major disruptions to payments systems as a result of the CrowdStrike outage have not occurred and are not anticipated. Impacts on banks and payments systems have been relatively minor, with any disruptions having already been remedied or in the process of being gradually restored. Banks will continue to monitor for any further impacts to services…. Read more »