The Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice sets standards of good practice for subscribing credit unions, mutual banks and mutual building societies – collectively known as customer owned banks.
Customer owned banks that subscribe to the Code follow these standards when dealing with existing and prospective individual or small business customers, or guarantors.
The Code is owned and published by the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) and forms an important part of the broader financial services consumer protection framework. of the broader financial services consumer protection framework.
Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice
What does the Code cover?
The Code sets out commitments in several areas, including:
- advertising
- interest rates, fees and charges
- terms and conditions
- responsible lending
- reverse mortgages
- guarantees
- copies of documents
- direct debits and chargebacks
- privacy
- financial difficulty
- debt collection
- dispute resolution
These commitments apply to consumers and small businesses.
Who subscribes to the Code?
See the register of credit unions, mutual banks and mutual building societies that subscribe to the Code.
Who monitors the Code?
The Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee independently monitors the Code to ensure customer owned banks are meeting their obligations, and achieving service standards Australians can trust.
The Code Compliance and Monitoring team (Code Team) at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) provides code monitoring, secretariat and administrative services to the Committee. The Code Team is a separately operated and funded business unit of AFCA. Find out more about the Codes of Practice.
Report a concern
The role of the Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee is to ensure customer owned banks comply with the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice. It does not provide compensation. If you are seeking compensation, talk to your financial firm or make a complaint with AFCA.
If you believe a customer owned bank may have breached the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice, you can report your concern by emailing the Code Team or calling 1800 931 678.
