The Australian Cartel Coordination Commission on guard
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given banks approval to continue co-ordinating their COVID-19 support measures.
The ACCC issued a final determination on Friday, replacing the interim authorisation it gave in March, authorising Australian Banking Association members and their third-party suppliers to enter into agreements for the purpose of providing relief to bank customers who are suffering hardship, or who may suffer hardship without that conduct.
The ACCC said: “In the absence of the proposed conduct, member banks would continue to offer separate financial relief packages and other support measures but without standardisation or consistency.”
The authorisation will apply until August next year. It allows ABA member banks and third-party suppliers to “discuss, agree and give effect to arrangements between them that have the purpose of:
• deferring or varying loan facilities for customers;
• supporting government initiatives to provide emergency relief for individuals and businesses; and
• ensuring continued high levels of customer service and accessibility.”
The ABA must notify the ACCC of any proposed conduct.
Participating banks are not authorised to co-ordinate on any element of pricing “for any service or product on which they compete”.
The authorisation allows banks to share information about the uptake of relief programs, the incidence of customer financial difficulties, which groups of customers would benefit most from further relief and staffing issues.
ABA member banks can also reach agreement about further relief measures and the logistics of service delivery.
The banks also have approval to work collectively with financial services regulators on compliance issues.
The ACCC noted that one area where the banks have not taken co-ordinated action is in relation to branch services. It said: “To date, the ACCC has not been notified of any arrangements under the notification condition for the purpose of allowing customers to continue to access high levels of customer service and accessibility at physical bank branches.”