An industry guardian has upset hopes that a uniform and cooperative reset on pay methods in the banking industry in Australia could be on the way.In an issues paper from his review into commissions and payments made to bank staff and third parties, independent reviewer Stephen Sedgwick spelled out last week that some banks believe their culture "has been historically strongly service oriented and significant change is not required."Sedgwick's issues paper is one step along a reform path laid out by the Australian Bankers Association in April 2016. It summarises "current practices and seeks further information about product sales commissions and product-based payments paid," and for the most part Sedgwick was muted in his analysis and commentary.He did, however, hint at the direction for reforms, including less frequent assessment of staff against sales targets, maybe even pushed back to annually (from daily, at some banks).Sedgwick was most vocal about accelerator-type payments, which he described as having "increased potential that a poor outcome will ensue for at least some customers."?Setting the scene, Sedgwick wrote that remuneration practices "vary between banks. Although a few do not, the vast majority of banks provide incentives, bonuses or product-based payments/product sales commissions to at least some of their retail staff or to third parties acting on their behalf (such as mortgage brokers) that are directly or indirectly related to product sales."He said there was "a risk that such incentives may lead to behaviours or practices that lead to poor outcomes for customers. Banks have typically put checks and balances in place to mitigate such risks." "A number have told the Review that they have scaled back over time the significance of product-related payments and strengthened the checks in place. Some have announced an intention to go further in this direction in the year ahead, he wrote. "Others, on the other hand, argue that their culture has been historically strongly service oriented and significant change is not required."The Sedgwick issues paper is a companion read to the quarterly report from the ABA's governance expert, Ian McPhee, also released last week. McPhee's report shared more nuggets than Sedgwick on bank-specific reforms, some better publicised than others.Sedgwick listed seven "sets of issues on which further feedback or information is sought". These issues are:??-- the role of targets,-- does size of rewards or their structure matter most?-- should bank obligations be strengthened?-- what is the difference between a 'sales culture' and a 'service' culture?-- what role might the remuneration arrangements applicable to very senior managers play in conditioning the behaviour of frontline staff? --  issues specific to remuneration of third parties, and -- what is a poor customer outcome (and what is the link to agent remune