CHOICE has led a joint submission to the Senate Economics Committee supporting passing the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024. This Bill would regulate buy now pay later as a credit product by closing a loophole in the existing credit law. This has been a campaign goal of CHOICE for years. The laws would introduce many vital consumer safeguards, including:
- requiring BNPL providers to obtain a credit licence from ASIC;
- guaranteeing ombudsman access for BNPL customers to resolve disputes via the Australian Financial Complaints Authority;
- setting a cap on the maximum fees that may be charged under a BNPL contract, including a cap on late fees; and
- requiring BNPL providers to undertake a form of affordability assessment.
Our submission recommends passing these laws, but also makes a number of recommendations on how the laws could be improved to ensure BNPL products are safer by design, and BNPL lending decisions are based on more reliable information.
Download submission (PDF)
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