Centrepay lease payment arrangements tightened

The Australian Government will restrict the type of consumer leases that consumers can pay for using Centrepay payments, but will increase the number of low-cost finance options Centrepay supports.

The Minister for Human Services, Marise Payne, announced on Friday that the measures were designed to protect vulnerable customers.

Consumer advocates have long complained about certain personal finance arrangements that involve direct debits from Centrepay, which is a service designed for Centrelink customers who want to pay bills as regular deductions.

Payne said leases that run for an indefinite period or have durations of four months or less will be excluded from Centrepay arrangements.

Only personal finance products regulated under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (and its responsible lending rules) will be allowed.

Funeral insurance payments will also be excluded.

Payne said the Centrepay service would be expanded to allow for deductions for low-interest loans, savings plans and laybys.

She said customers would receive more detailed information about low-cost personal finance alternatives.

Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Rights Legal Centre issued a joint statement on Friday welcoming the changes. However, the groups called on the Government to extend the restriction to all consumer lease and rent-to-buy products.

Finance company Thorn Group also welcomed the changes, saying that providers of indefinite lease products exploited a loophole in the NCCP Act.

Thorn said the majority of customers of its Radio Rentals division using Centrepay were on contracts that ran from 18 months to 48 months.