Source: https://www.abc.net.au Big changes to how your credit rating is calculated are taking effect, with lenders able to access more information about your credit history than ever before. It has its fans and critics and has been five years in the making.
Let's break down what it means for you.
What is comprehensive credit reporting (CCR)? It's a beefed-up system of information about your credit history that lenders can access via credit rating agencies. Previously, lender...

A Victorian woman who has suffered at the hands of payday lenders has an important message for the Government about the dangers of payday loans as she joins the Stop the Debt Trap Alliance, a coalition of over 20 consumer advocacy organisations from around the country, to visit MPs in Canberra today to call for laws to stop harmful payday loans. Shortly after Noorlia Mansor moved to Australia with her now ex-husband, she had to flee her home due to family violence. She thought that a few ...

Source: The Financial Review A massive split has emerged in the aggressiveness of bankruptcy tactics of ASX-listed debt collectors, raising questions about any impact on sales of outstanding ledgers to them. Research conducted by financial counselling groups found Brisbane-based Collection House's subsidiary Lion Finance had filed 512 bankruptcy actions in the Federal Court in the past financial year. Its major rival, Sydney-based Credit Corp, filed none while smaller providers were...

Source: FCA By Brigette Rose Australians have come to expect a poor standard of service from our phone and internet providers. Almost everyone you talk to has a horror story about their telecommunications company from bill shock to NBN problems and everything in between. In fact, there were more than 165,000 complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in the 2017-18 financial year, and 846,454 complaints to telecommunications providers from July to December 2018. The s...

Source: FCA For a 12 month period (1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020), AFCA will accept complaints about the conduct of financial firms dating back to 1 January 2008. AFCA refers to these complaints as "legacy complaints". This is an opportunity for people to resolve older complaints. The usual AFCA process will apply and once the legacy complaint is lodged in AFCA it will be referred back to the financial firm. If the complaint remains unresolved then AFCA will consider and determi...