Weekly Update: 23 June 2023

“The National Cyber Security Coordinator, together with the National Office of Cyber Security, will drive forward the necessary work to ensure Australia is best positioned to respond to the opportunities and threats of the digital age.”  

the Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP

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Feature:

• The ABA launched the new Branch Closure Support Protocol this week, responding to the seven recommendations of the Regional Banking Taskforce inquiry into regional branch closures.  The new Protocol contains significant customer-centric uplifts when branches close. These include: 
• A new Customer Care Standard requiring banks to:
  • offer education, training and assistance to customers of a closing branch to transition to other banking options; 
  • support customers who require additional assistance to transition to other banking options; 
  • provide language support where appropriate; and 
  • support customers who retain a preference for face-to-face banking services to transition to Bank@Post (for customers of participating banks). 
• The Protocol will now come into operation when a branch closes and the distance to the bank’s nearest branch is 10km away (a halving of the current threshold of 20km). 
• The Protocol will no longer be limited to regional and remote branch closures, in recognition that the main driver of inconvenience when a branch closes is distance to the next branch not geography.  
• Publication of Branch Closure Impact Assessments to help customers and local stakeholders better understand the reasons for a closure decision and how to access banking services. 
• Read more in our media release here. The new Protocol can be accessed here. 

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Parliamentary Update:

• The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort) Bill 2023 [and associated bills] passed the Senate on Thursday 22 June 2023 without debate.  
• The Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 passed the Senate on Monday 19 June 2023. The referendum will likely be held in October.  
• Consideration of the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 and two related bills has been postponed to 16 October 2023 after the Greens and Coalition voted to delay the bill. The government is seeking urgent advice from the Solicitor General, while Labor Deputy Senate leader Don Farrell warned that the government would regard the delay as a “failure to pass” the bill, implying that it may trigger a double dissolution election.  
• The Prime Minister announced the appointment of Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie as Australia’s first National Cyber Security Coordinator. 
• The Treasurer announced over $1.5 billion in new tax incentives for small and medium businesses. 
• NSW Treasurer, the Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC warned that the state’s two remaining AAA credit ratings are under threat as he handed down an economic statement ahead of the NSW Government’s first budget which is expected in September this year.  
• The New Zealand government launched a competition inquiry into banking profits of the four major banks. 

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Policy Update:

• • The ABA was invited to represent banks at a scams roundtable held by Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones. Other attendees included representatives of telecommunications providers, consumer representatives, META, COBA, and others. Discussion covered the formal commencement of the National Anti-Scams Centre on 1 July 2023, as well as the upcoming formation by the ACCC of ‘fusion cells’ – an initiative involving groups focused on targeting key scam types.  

• The ABA had discussions with Land Use Victoria regarding the closure of the Permanent Order Book. The planned 1 July 2023 closure has been postponed until 1 July 2024. 
• The ABA attended the Security Issues Forum in Brisbane this week which brought together bank security personnel and police representatives from States and Territories. Topics discussed included skimming, online kidnapping and edge weapon incidents. 

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Regulatory Update:

• The RBA:
  • published undertakings by Mastercard and Visa that they will not engage in conduct that would limit competitive pressure in the debit card market through ‘tying conduct’. 
  • released research which found that lower interest rates effect net interest margins more than returns on assets.  
  • spoke on the need to return the labour market to a level consistent with full employment. 
• ASIC Chair Joe Longo spoke about the need for financial institutions to ‘lead through change’ by ensuring transparency and technical progress. 
• APRA is consulting on minor amendments to prudential framework for ADIs and insurers. 

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Submissions Lodged:

• APRA Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions’ Points of Presence Review 
• Consultation on National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation’s (NHFIC’s) Investment Mandate 

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Selected Media:

• Courier Mail – New rules for banks when closing regional branches  
• AFR – CBA cuts loan buffers for some of its refinancing customers  
• AFR – RBA inflation goal needs about 140,000 job losses 
• AFR – Macquarie takes an ‘AI-first approach’ in banking  
• SMH – Force banks to automatically switch customers to best-rate savings accounts, says consumer group  

DataWeekly Update