From January 1 this year, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) introduced new regulations designed to help stop Australians from getting stuck with problematic credit card debt.
ASIC found that out of more than 10 million Australians who had credit cards, 930,000 consumers consistently had a balance that was close to its credit limit, and a further 435,000 paid down their balance very slowly.
In other words, these credit card customers were not making any real headway paying off their balances and would be paying the high interest rates that can apply on credit cards, for a long time.
Australia’s 10 largest credit providers have now committed to improving their lending practices above and beyond the requirements of the law.