PODCAST
Blog
Blog
Blog
9 Mar, 2021 Author Ranina Sanglap
Australia s buy-now-pay-later players may need more regulation to protect customers after the point-of-sale credit industry has grown rapidly in recent years, helped in part by an absence of oversight, experts say.
Companies such as Afterpay Ltd., Zip Co. Ltd. and Brighte Capital Pty. Ltd. have attracted droves of consumers, especially younger buyers on e-commerce platforms, by allowing them to pay for their purchases in installments and not charging them interest. That has also led to criticism of their lending practices, mainly from customers being charged heavy late fees.
Buy-now-pay-later, or BNPL, players have so far avoided regulation as provisions of the Australian National Consumer Credit Protection Act of 2009 do not apply to certain types of loans, including interest-free credit for a short term. The industry adopted a code of conduct for self-regulation from Mar
Blog
Blog
Blog
Blog
9 Dec, 2020 Author Ranina Sanglap
Westpac Banking Corp. s planned sale of its general insurance business marks among the final steps by major Australian lenders to exit noncore businesses as they sharpen focus on their main banking operations.
After Westpac completes its A$725 million deal to sell the business to Allianz SE in mid-2021, Commonwealth Bank of Australia may remain the only bank among the Australian big four to still have a general insurance arm. CBA too has said in the past that it is reviewing its businesses, including selling its general insurance operations.
In June,
The Australian Financial Review reported that Goldman Sachs is helping the bank prepare for a potential sale and pitch the business to interested buyers. CBA had said in 2018 that it was looking into a potential sale or partnership of the general insurance business as part of its efforts to sell its noncore businesses.