The Minister for Financial Services Chris Bowen has exempted retailers from the government’s Consumer Credit Protection Bill, relieving retailers from $760 million in compliance costs and saving about 24,000 jobs.
“The ARA has been providing advice to the government on this issue and its impact on the 22,000 retailers, including almost 9000 small businesses, using point of sale finance via 10 consumer credit providers,” said the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) executive director Richard Evans.
“The decision to exempt retailers from aspects of the Consumer Credit Protection Bill relieved retailers across Australia from an expected $760 million in compliance costs.”
The draft Consumer Credit Protection Bill included unintended consequences which meant retail staff would need to be trained, accredited, registered and licensed to offer credit assistance to the same level as finance brokers.
“This was an unnecessary burden on retailers which could have cost up to $27,000 in staff training and other obligations for each individual retailer,” said Evans.
“The exemption means retailers will be able to continue to provide consumers with finance options, securing $800 million in retail sales and protecting 24,000 retail jobs that were expected to be lost under the Government’s original proposal.”