NCCP - Loan Processing / Support Staff
Updated
by
Caroline Pollard
What does the NCCP say about who can have financial discussions with a client?
Under the NCCP, the following information is clearly set out regarding which people are authorised to have financial discussions with the client. It clearly states ‘You must be covered by an ACL to engage in any credit activity’. Therefore, sales and support staff should not to engage in any activity that may be considered a ‘credit activity’.
‘Credit Activities’ may include:
- Providing credit under a credit contract or consumer lease;
- Benefiting from mortgages or guarantees relating to a credit contract;
- Exercising rights or performing obligations of a credit provider (either as the credit provider or on behalf of another person who is the credit provider);
- Suggesting or providing assistance with a particular credit contract or consumer lease;
- Acting as an intermediary between a credit provider and a consumer (for a credit contract); and
- Any person conducting credit conversations, or conversations that may be perceived by the consumer to pertain to obtaining a particular credit contract or consumer lease, should be aware that there are very strict penalties that apply to a person who unlawfully engages in credit activities or provides unauthorised credit assistance.
What is Credit Assistance?
Defined in Section 8 of the NCCP, a person provides ‘credit assistance’ to a consumer if, by dealing directly or indirectly with a consumer in the course of, as part of, or incidentally to, a business carried on this jurisdiction by the person, the person:
- Suggests and/or assists the consumer apply for a particular credit contract with a particular credit provider; or
- Suggests and/or assists the consumer apply for an increase to the credit limit of a particular credit contract with a particular lender; or
- Suggest that the consumer remain in a particular credit contract with a particular credit provider; or
- Suggests and/or assists the consumer apply for a particular consumer lease with a particular lessor; or
- Suggests that the consumer remain in a particular consumer lease with a particular lessor.
People providing credit assistance to a client, as per the information outlined above, must be accredited by the specific lender in order to facilitate product and policy conversations with a client. The lenders will generally not accredit a person who is not an ACR of an ACL.
Under no circumstances should an unauthorised person be engaging in credit activities or providing credit assistance to a client, irrespective of who they are and the position they hold. The implications of non-compliance for businesses have the potential to be quite severe.
