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Steven Cross
The exit fee ban should only apply to major banks, not small lenders, FBAA president Peter White has said.
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“Exit fees have been an absolute disaster,” Mr White told The Adviser at the recent FBAA conference in Sydney.
“The whole point of the banning of exit fees was to increase competition, and that has undoubtedly failed. If a borrower refinances from their non-bank to another lender within three years, the small lender is making a loss.
“Perhaps exit fees should be allowed for non-banks, credit unions and the like so that these lenders don’t go under.”
Mr White added that he had a meeting several days earlier with the Liberal shadow treasurer Joe Hockey, deputy leader of the opposition Julie Bishop and other leading business figures to discuss the future of the finance industry.
Over the past few months, the FBAA has been building relationships with the Coalition, which Mr White claims is looking to the future.
“The way the opinion polls are pointing, they’re going to be running the country in the next 18 months or so, so making the right connections now will pay off for us and our members in the long run,” Mr White said.
“[The meeting] was an opportunity to discuss key issues,” Mr White said. “One of the main points was the unavailability of credit to businesses … access to credit is becoming an issue.”
