The Third Report of the Review of the Four Major Banks by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics has made 4 recommendations some of which overlap government announcements, other inquiries (including the Royal Commission on Banking) and litigation:

1. The committee recommends that banks be required to give merchants the ability to send tap-and-go payments from dual-network debit cards through the channel of their choice. The Committee recommends that if the banks have not facilitated this recommendation by 1 April 2018, the Payments System Board should take regulatory action to require this to occur.

2.The committee recommends that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, as a part of its inquiry into residential mortgage products, analyse the repricing of interest-only mortgages that occurred in June 2017.

3. The committee recommends that the Government introduce legislation to mandate participation in Comprehensive Credit Reporting as soon as practicable.

4. The committee recommends that the Attorney-General review the major banks’ threshold transaction reporting obligations in light of the issues identified in the CEO of AUSTRAC v Commonwealth Bank of Australia case.

David Coleman MP has been appointed as the Government’s Assistant Minister for Finance and is no longer the Committee Chair.