ABA hits credit card reform process
The Australian Bankers Association has hit out at the fast-tracked process for reform of credit card laws, saying it has made reform "resource intensive, costly and a significant business undertaking" and that the reforms will likely have "marginal" impact.In its submission to the Productivity Commission's examination of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reforms, the ABA also says the credit card reform program suffered from a troubled consultation process."The reforms are moving at a pace that is at odds with the significant regulatory burdens they impose on industry," the ABA submission says."In the ABA's view, the pace of the reform program fails to take sufficient account of industry's need to implement these reforms in planned, orderly and workable timeframes. This is required to be done along with other major financial services reforms due to commence in early and mid-2012."In all, there are three substantial pieces of credit reform legislation requiring industry implementation over the next seven months."The ABA said it was difficult to provide details of costs for the reforms. It has previously estimated that they would cost the banking industry $100 to $150 million to implement.The submission also noted that no cost-benefit analysis had been done on the reforms because they were a 2010 election commitment.