The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, FinTech Australia and theBankDoctor.org released a joint report today outlining the steps taken by fintech lenders to increase transparency and disclosure. The report, "Fintech lending to small and medium sized enterprises: Improving transparency and disclosure," explains how fintech business lenders are able to help Australian small to medium businesses access the funds they need to grow. The report sets out the different approaches to disclosure across the fintech industry and makes recommendations on best practice and identifies items for action by June 2018. These include: Â·         the development of an industry Code of Conduct (initially covering fintech balance sheet lenders offering unsecured business loans) to prescribe what a customer can expect in terms of transparency and disclosure from a lender;·         expanding this Code of Conduct to other fintech lending and finance products over time; and·         fintech lenders agreeing to the contents of an easy-to-understand contract summary page by June 2018, which would include a common set of measures when making loan offers to customers. Ombudsman Kate Carnell said Australia presented a huge opportunity for the fintech industry, in that it provides a genuine alternative finance solution for small businesses where traditional banks are limited in their capacity to serve the sector. "Through the use of technology platforms which analyse rich, real-time business financial data and deliver easy-to-use and fast application processes, fintech business lenders are making a real difference to small businesses," said FinTech Australia's CEO, Danielle Szetho. "However, like many financial services products, lending contracts are complex and have the potential to be complicated and confusing." Independent SME finance expert, Neil Slonim from theBankDoctor.org said small business owners, who were time poor and often financially unsophisticated, found it difficult to make fully informed decisions when borrowing from fintech lenders. "Put simply, borrowers should be able to answer three simple questions: Is this the right product for my needs? Do I know exactly what it is going to cost? Do I know that I can't get a better deal elsewhere? "This report highlights where and how fintech lenders can implement consistent transparency practices that will create better outcomes for SMEs and help build further credibility and trust in the fintech lending sector." The report ends with a Glossary of Common Lending Terms as a first step toward driving a consistent industry-wide approach to the communication of these terms, which should ultimately make different contracts easier to understand and compare.