ASIC clarifies deferred sales rules for add-on insurance By Annie Kane 30 July 2021
The financial services regulator has released examples of how the incoming rules for add-on insurance will work for CCI, among other credit insurances.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released a new regulatory guide – RG 275 – to detail how it will implement the new deferred sales model for add-on insurance.
The new regime, which will commence on 5 October 2021, requires a clear four-day pause between when a customer enters a commitment to acquire a principal product or service, and when they are offered or sold an add-on insurance product.
Mortgage Business
CBA to partially close a tenth of its branches By Sarah Simpkins 29 July 2021
The Commonwealth Bank has indicated that it will cut opening hours across 90 regional branches, with impacted staff to spend the rest of their working day giving remote customer support.
A number of CBA branches across NSW, the ACT, South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania are set to operate from 9.30am to 1pm.
Affected branch staff will operate the centres in the morning and switch to assisting CBA’s contact centres in the afternoons, which reportedly are receiving more than a million complex customer enquiries each month.
Mortgage Business
Owning home key to financial wellness: YFW By Malavika Santhebennur 29 July 2021
A report has found that home ownership is the single most important factor affecting a person’s perceived level of financial wellness.
The Your Financial Wellness (YFW) User Insights 2021 report has found a strong correlation between home ownership and perceived level of financial wellness, with an average score of 7.9 for those surveyed who own their home outright, the highest average score of any variables analysed in the report.
On the other hand, the report – commissioned by YFW with support from Teachers Mutual Bank Limited (TMBL) – found that people renting a home returned a much lower financial wellness score than home owners (5.1).
Mortgage Business
CBA announces green loan national rollout By Malavika Santhebennur 28 July 2021
CBA has made its green loans available to all eligible home loan customers nationally, and launched a sustainability hub.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has announced that its green loan has been made available for up to 600,000 customers across Australia.
It has followed the launch of a green loan pilot program in February this year to enable existing and new customers with an eligible CommBank home loan or investment loan to purchase and install renewable technology.
The loan enables eligible customers to purchase and install up to $20,000 worth of clean energy products by offering a 0.99 per cent per annum secured fixed rate over 10 years with no establishment fee, monthly loan service fee or early repayment fees.
Sydney mayor launches business support, calls for JobKeeper
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Sydney’s mayor has urged the federal government to resurrect JobKeeper, as the city has launched a new relief package for businesses and residents in the fifth week of lockdown.
The city council has pledged to provide $5 million in grants and donations, and an additional $7.8 million in estimated forgone revenue each month through fee waivers, rent reduction, quick response grants and food security.
The bundle builds on a previous $72.5 million package launched in April, for small businesses, artists and others in the creative and community sectors, as well as a $20-million CBD revitalisation fund established with the NSW government in October.