Two Exceedingly Costly Interest Charging Practices   Twenty Seven Questions and Supporting Evidence   Defined Terms and Documents  

Documents and Defined Terms (Left click on embedded threads herein)

$6.3 billion stolen from the pockets of Australians by banks: CHOICE  Alan Kirkland, CEO - June 2020

12 consumer protections in the Credit CARD Act - creditcards.com

80 - 20 Rule  or  The Pareto Principle

A banking royal commission would not change much - SMH - Michael Pascoe 

A Better Deal for Consumers - Review of the Regulation of Credit and Store Cards: A Consultation - Oct 2009

About Monetary Policy

ABA response to the Inquiry into credit card interest rates - Senate Standing Committee on Economics - 10 Aug 2015

ABS  Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, Summary Results, Australia, 2006 

4228.0 - Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, Summary Results, Australia, 2006 (Reissue)  -  SUMMARY OF FINDINGS from Productivity Commission Staff Working Paper Links Between Literacy and Numeracy Skills and Labour Market Outcomes - August 2010
ABS'  PIAAC 2011-12 report evidences that over 40% of Australians possess numeracy and literacy skills less that level 3

ABS report Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, Summary Results, Australia, 2006

ACCC -  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

ACCC recommends Reserve Bank consider using powers to reform credit card schemes - 2001

ACCESS TO CONSUMER CREDIT: THE PROBLEM OF FINANCIAL EXCLUSION IN AUSTRALIA AND THE CURRENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK - 2005 - Macq Law Journal

Acquirer Bank

Additional Humdinger Evidence garnered in last three months to early May 2017

Affordable Credit - Uni of Bristol

Afterpay

A guide to store cards -  Money Advice Service UK

A history of failed reform: why Australia needs a banking royal commission – The Conversation - Thomas Clarke, Professor, UTS Business, Uni of Technology Sept 12, 2016

Alan Jones and his outrage inevitably go the way of his ratings -  Denis Muller for The Conversation  -  5 Nov 2021

America’s Debt Problem:  How Private Debt Is Holding Back Growth and Hurting the Middle Class

American Express agrees to change credit card interest rate policy for defaulting cardholders

American Express pays no tax on multi-billion-dollar Australian operation for seven years - "$3.6 billion came from merchant fees and $2 billion from interest income on credit cards."

A new measure of consumer credit  -  Bank of England  -  2012

A Pocket Full Of Change - Banking and Deregulation - November 1991

Annexure A

Annexure - Q & A

Annexure B - Letter to Paul Clitheroe

Annual Cardholder Fee

Approach to Regulation - RBA

APR  -  Annual Percentage Rate

APRA Act 1998

APRA or Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

APRA AND THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM INQUIRY - Working Paper 3 - January 2000

APRA announces final regulatory arrangements for specialist credit card institutions

APRA chairman, Wayne Byres', timely reminder on caveat emptor  -  AFR  -  Jul 11 2018

APRA’s enforcement activities

APRA - Its Objectives and Powers

APRA says everything is fine in housing market, but look at credit cards - SMH - JUNE 4 2015

APRA Statistics Monthly Banking Statistics

APRA take the easy road out with risk culture

APRA's Supervisory Oversight and Response System

APRA - Banks make $920 million from credit card interest rates with profit margin now 16 per cent

Archives - RBA

Argy Bargy

ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission

ASIC boost: Big companies to pay $330m a year to fund regulator - SMH  -

ASIC’s compulsory information gathering powers

ASIC - Credit Card lending in Australia - report 580 - July 2018

ASIC releases report and consultation paper on the use of credit cards - Gilbert & Tobin - 31 July 2018

ASIC Has Ignored Its Acknowledgement In 2010 That These Findings Have Implications For Our Regulatory Regime

ASIC launches 'voluntary' crackdown on banks mis-selling credit cards - ABCNews Business Reporter   Sue Lannin  -   9 Dec 2018

ASIC MoneySmart - Credit card debt clock

ASIC's National Financial Literacy Strategy speech -  March 2011

ASIC's National Financial Literacy Strategy - March 2011

ASIC's Financial literacy and behavioural change - March 2011

ASIC’s review of credit cards reveals more than one in six consumers struggling with credit card debt  -  18-201MR  - Wed 4 July 2018

ASIC's REPORT 600  -  Review of Buy Now Pay Later arrangements  -  November 2018

ASIC  -  NAB responds to ASIC’s concerns regarding unsolicited companion credit card distribution

ASIC needs a win in 2017, but it’s not likely to come from the banks

   ASIC report highlights a deep culture problem in Australia’s banks

ASIC Public interest disclosures policy and procedures

ASIC Regulatory Guide 234 - 2017 - Advertising financial products and services (including credit): Good practice guidance

ASIC - 'Tough cop' ASIC too timid on enforcement: Allan Fels - Ruth Williams  -  APRIL 15, 2016 SMH

18-201MR ASIC’S REVIEW OF CREDIT CARDS REVEALS MORE THAN ONE IN SIX CONSUMERS STRUGGLING WITH CREDIT CARD DEBT

14-041MR Smart people not so smart with their money - ASIC  -  Wed 12 March 2014

Assessment Fee.

Australian Bankers Association (ABA)

Australian Bankers Association (ABA) response to the Inquiry into credit card interest rates

ABS 's CODE OF BANKING PRACTICE 2013 and Code Compliance Monitoring Mandate

Australian Bankers Association 'Banking Code of Practice that commences on or before 1 July 2019

Australian Banking Association - Banking Code of Practice - Setting the standards of practice for banks, their staff and their representatives - Commences 1 July 2019

Australian consumer law – unfair contract terms

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC

Australian Credit card stats  - finty -     |   Verified by David Boyd   |   Updated 5th August 2022

Australian Credit Card and Debit Card Statistics 2017  finder

Australian Credit Card and Debit Card Statisticsfinder - 12 November 2018

Australian Financial Counselling and Credit Reform Association Conference, Melbourne - 2010

Australian Payments Clearing Association ("APCA")  Submission to the RBA Review of Card Payments Regulation - April 2015

Australian Governments allocate $43 million annually to 44 Australian charities to provide financial counselling to Australians That Are Experiencing Extreme Financial And Emotional Distress

Australian Bank Crashes of the 1890s Revisited

Australia’s credit card debt continues to spiral

Australia's Experience with Financial Deregulation - Ric Battellino, Deputy Governor, RBA  - 16 July 2007 - History

Australia’s huge credit card debt revealed - Crikey  -

Australian Monetary Policy in the Last Quarter of the Twentieth Century - MacFarlane  -  History

Australia’s Most Predatory Credit Cards Revealed

Australia's Principal Regulator of the Payments System

Australia's Three Financial Services Regulators

Australia’s corporate regulators—the ACCC, ASIC and APRA - 2005

Australia should compare CEO and average worker pay as the US and UK do

Australian banks save billions by failing to pass on interest rate cuts to credit card customers, CHOICE research finds -  Gareth Hutchens  -  10 June 2020

Australian bank profits in pictures

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority  or  APRA

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION  -  SUBMISSION  MARCH 2014

Australian Retailers Association - Submission to RBA 2001 -  Credit Card Schemes in Australia

Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI)

Average Comparison Rate Over 18% Per Annum

Response by the Australian Retailer’s Association (“ARA”) to Australian Banker’s Association (“ABA”) Submission to the Reserve Bank of Australia (“RBA”)  -  28 August 2001

Balance Transfer Fee

Balance Transfer Guide

Balance Transfer Interest-Free Period Offers or Balance Transfer

Balance Transfer Interest Free Period Offers and their hidden Spiders have plagued vulnerable Credit Cardholders in Australia for almost 20 years

1974 Bankcard launched

Ban bad products before they cause harm: Financial System Inquiry - Consumer Action Law Centre - 2015

Banking & Finance Consumer Support Assoc - Dowerin WA

Banking Fees in Australia  -  RBA Bulletin – June Quarter 2011

Banking inquiry findings – ask the wrong questions get the wrong answers

Banking regulation in Australia: Overview - by Ian Paterson, King & Wood Mallesons

Banking royal commission: credit card horror stories reveal lifelines that help you sink - The Guardian - Calla Wahlquist  -  Sun 20 May 2018

Bank Interest Rate Margins -   Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin May 1992 History

BANKING LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 1986

Banking royal commission: The questions commissioner Kenneth Hayne needs to ask and the banks must answer - ABC News - 4 Dec 2017

Bank of England

Banknotes scandal covered up -  The Age   5/10/2011

Big banks defend card profits, but vie for most virtuous - SMH - By Shaun Drummond and Clancy Yeates - 16 Oct 2015

Banks blasted for “unconscionable” credit card lending at Senate enquiry - 

Banks can issue credit card fees and charges up to 48 per cent. Here’s why there should be a cap  -  NewDaily - 20 Sept 2021

Banks: I See Things Differently -  by John Dahlsen - 8 August 2016

Bank drops penalty fees.  Nice start, long way to go - Crikey  - July 2009

Banks milking customers on credit card rates -  Daily News

Banks need reining in, but an act is not the way - SMH

Banks 'plunder' travellers with Forex fees on credit card transactions

Banks revamp code of practice in face of scandals, royal commission - ABC News - 20 Dec 2017

Bankwest amends credit card advertising following ASIC action

Benefits of economic deregulation come at a cost

Beware sting in zero per cent credit card deals -   SMH  -  Clancy Yeates  -

Big banks accused of setting 'debt traps' with credit cards

Big banks defend card profits, but vie for most virtuous

$3.889 billion circa Purchaser User Pays Fee annually

Bill shock, credit cards leading causes of financial distress during COVID - ANGLICARE

Bill would limit loan, credit card rates

Black marks mean higher borrowing costs - Choice

Borrower beware: how responsible lending changes could put more vulnerable Australians in debt - The Guardian 

Brand Name

BREACH OF STATUTORY DUTY AS A REMEDY AGAINST PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Breach of statutory duty - Minter Ellison

Brief History of the RBA  

Broad Terms of Reference

Buy now, pay later: you say innovation, I say gateway too debt - SMH - OPINION - 27 Aug 2020

A CHRONOLOGY OF OFFICIAL SCRUTINY OF CREDIT CARD SCHEMES IN AUSTRALIA

Campbell Report - Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Financial System - Sept 1981

25+ Captivating Credit Card Statistics in Australia

Card Acquirer

Cardholders or Credit Cardholders

Card Limit

Cards still fitting the payment bill - ANZ -19 Feb. 2015

Cash Advance

Cash Advances – the interest rate and fee you’ll pay - Finder - 2022

Cash Advance Fee

Cash Rate

Cash Rate Target

Central Banks interest rates.

CEOs bank on bonuses as average Australian worker left to flounder

CHANGES IN THE BEHAVIOUR OF BANKS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL AGGREGATES - July 1989 (History of deregulation)

Changes to banking code could mean businesses save on credit card interest — but don’t relax just yet - Emma Koehn / Dec 20, 2017 - SmartCompany

Chapter 9 - Other issues: Utilities, credit, gambling

Charge Card

CHOICE calls on lenders to cap interest rates for Virgin Velocity credit cards

Citizens Electoral Council of Australia - Coburg VIC

Civil Penalty

Class Actions

Closing Balance

Co-branded or Companion Cards

Comment on the Government's 'Better Deal for consumers' White Paper

Commonwealth Bank’s crafty credit card ripoff  --- THE NEW DAILY  Aug 10, 2016    George Lekakis

Commonwealth Bank maintains the traditional treatment of charging interest (at the agreed Purchase interest rate) after the 'Payment due date' on the unpaid amount only - the Interest Free Period is immediately restored after the 'Total amount owing' is repaid

Companion Cards

Comparison Rate

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory Damages

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Payment Surcharges) Bill 2015

Comprehensive credit reporting - D&B Chief Executive Officer - Credit Risk Conference March 2008

Compulsive Buying Disorder or Oniomania

Concessional Interest Rate Period

Community Affairs References Committee

Consumer Affairs Victoria  -  Regulating the cost of credit  HISTORY

Consumer Action Law Centre and the Financial Rights Legal Centre - Submission to Senate Standing Committees on Economics re inquiry into credit card interest rates  - Recommendations

Consumer Payment Behaviour in Australia - RBA

Consumer Credit Reform and Behavioural Economics: Regulating Australia’s Credit Card Industry  - Ali, McRae and Ramsay - Melb. Law School - May 2012

Consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sector - Consumer Action Law Centre - 7 Mar 2017

Coralling the penalties horse: Paciocco v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd - Melb Law School - 8 Aug. 2016

Corporate governance: Board responsibilities – SS5/16 (Short form) - Bank of England

Corporate governance: Board responsibilities – SS5/16 (Long form) - Bank of England

Coralling the penalties horse: Paciocco v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd  -  Katy Barnett  - 

Cost of Credit Cards to Merchants

Cost of Credit Card transactions to Cardholders

Council of Financial Regulators

COUNCIL OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS ANNUAL REPORT 2001

Counting the costs of a Royal Commission - 16 May 2013 - Mondaq

Credit card advertising rules and laws | finder.com.au

Credit card bankruptcies could be the next banking scandal

Credit Card Blues: The Middle Class and the Hidden Costs of Easy Credit

Credit Card Credit Losses

Credit card debt trap increasingly catching older Australians  -  ABCNews  - 

'Credit Card Distress' Authorities

Credit Card Regulations Released  - HWL Ebsworth  -  Tuesday, 08 November 2011

Credit card report takes aim at banks' limit increase approvals, financial checks - SMH

Credit card revolution is on the way - SMH  - Shaun Drummond  MARCH 14, 2014 XXX

CREDIT CARD SCHEMES - EXCESSIVE FEES AND INTEREST CHARGES - PETER MAIR / SUBMISSION TO SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS - April 2015

Credit Cardholders or Cardholders

Credit Cardholder Fees

Credit Cardholders' Contribution To Credit Card Issuers' Gross Revenue

Credit Card Debt Accruing Interest

Credit Cards, Store Cards and Debit Cards - Consumer Affairs Tasmania

Credit Cards in Australia - Nov 2021 - Euromonitor Int'l

Credit Card Debt and Debt Collectors

Credit Card Management articles

Credit card interest rates 'inexplicably high': Choice

Credit Card History - finder HISTORY

Credit Card Issuers

Credit Card Issuers enjoy various income streams

Credit card management: the $4.3b a year we waste – SMH - Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon - June 17, 2016

Credit Card Networks

Credit Card Penalty Fees Revenue

Credit Card Products

Credit Card Providers

Credit Card Payment Schemes

Credit Card Repayment

Credit Card Revenue Definitions

Credit Card System

Credit Cards

Credit Card reforms HISTORY

Credit card lending in Australia  -  July 2018  -  ASIC

Credit Cards Regulatory Decisions - HISTORY

Credit Card Schemes in Australia by The Australian Retailers Association

Credit Card Purchase Transactions

Credit Card Travel Insurance 

Credit card use rises despite fewer accounts  -  Savings.com.au February 12, 2019

Credit card users struggling under mountain of debt that may never be repaid, ASIC report shows - ABC News  - Peter Ryan 4 Jul 2018

Credit Losses at Australian Banks: 1980–2013

Credit Report

Credit Risk To Credit Card Issuers

Credit Score

Credit Reporting Agency or Credit Rating Agency

Creeping danger of Australian households' love affair with credit -  SMH

Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) submission to the Productivity Commission, Canberra

CUTTING CREDIT CARD CONFUSION - CHOICE

Cutting the Social Cost of Problem Debt

Debit Cards

Debit Collection Agencies

Declaration that the Writer is not conflicted

Designated and Regulated Payment Systems

Deregulation and the rule of the big banks - HISTORY

Determine Standards

Determine Standards to 'inter alia' re-cap Credit Card interest rates for 'public interest issues'

Developments in the Card Payments Market

Directed to a Financial Services Regulator

Discussion Paper - What do we mean by 'vulnerable' and 'disadvantaged' consumers? - Consumer Affairs Victoria - March 2004

Division 2Section 11 of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998;

Division 3—Access to designated systems - Subdivision A—Access regimes - 12  Imposition of access regime

Don't bank on the big four

Draft Standards for EFTPOS & Visa Debit - July 2005 - Coles Myer Ltd

Due Date

Dubious Credit Card Comparison Websites

Dumb debt can rack up interest costs  -  SMH  -  David Potts  - 

Economics Legislation Committee - 01/06/2015 - Estimates - TREASURY PORTFOLIO - Reserve Bank of Australia

eftpos

eftpos Cards

Egalitarian Country

Equitability Cost Contribution Scheme

Essential Banking Law and Practice

Estimated Current Annual Credit Card Purchaser Users Pay Interest Revenue

Everyday Consumer Credit Overview of Australian Law Regulating Consumer Home Loans, Credit Cards and Car Loans - Background Paper 4 -  Jeannie Marie Paterson and Nicola Howell, Melbourne Law School

Example 1 - Unconscionable Conduct - St George Visa Gold Card

Example 2 - Unconscionable Conduct - Coles 'No Annual Fee MasterCard' and Coles 'Rewards MasterCard'

Example 3 - Unconscionable Conduct - ANZ's 'First Visa Card' and 'Low Interest Visa Card'

Example 4 - Unconscionable Conduct - Bankwest More MasterCard

Example 5 - Unconscionable Conduct - American Express Low Rate Card

Example 6 - Unconscionable Conduct - Citi Rewards Signature Credit Card

Example 7 - Unconscionable Conduct - HSBC Platinum Credit Card  

Example 8 - Unconscionable Conduct  -  Citibank Platinum Rewards Card, Citibank Classic Card and Citibank Simplicity Card

Example 9 - Unconscionable Conduct  -  American Express Explorer Credit Card

Executive Summary of Baker Tilly’s research report

Expect more interest rate rises as banks boost profits

Extensive Powers and Responsibilities of the RBA

Extracts from the Reserve Bank Research Discussion Paper - June 1992: LOAN RATE STICKINESS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE  -  RBA 1992 (by Philip Lowe and Thomas Rohling) evidenced that the Reserve Bank regulated lending interest rates

Extreme Financial And Emotional Distress

EVIDENCE CHECKLIST

Evolution of Payment Costs in Australia -  RBA Research Discussion Paper  - 2014

Evolution of the Financial System - Time Line of Critical Events

Fancy dress financial regulators ASIC and APRA must go - SMH - 31 May 2016 -  Andrew Schmulow

Fees Levied On The Wholesale Supply Side

Fiduciary

Fiduciary Duty

Fiduciary Relationship

FCA Comments on Banking Royal Commission - Financial Counselling Australia - Feb 5, 2019

Financial Corporations Act (Cth) of 1974

Financial Counsellors

Financial Counselling Australia - Pre-Budget Submission - December 2021

Financial Counselling Australia's Fiona Guthrie on how to fix financial services

Financial Deregulation - the Scorecard  HISTORY

Financial Hardship

Financial Institutions Collapses in Australia

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FAILURES IN AUSTRALIA — SOME CASE STUDIES

Financial Literacy or Financial Literacy Skills or Financial Literacy Capacity

Financial Literacy Demographic Quintiles

Financial Literacy and Credit Cards: A Multi Campus Survey

Financial literacy of Australian teenagers is falling: OECD PISA study  -  AFR  -  24 May 2017

Financially Educated or Financially Literate

Financially Uneducated And Vulnerable Australians

Financial Services Industry

Financial Services Reformists and Other Interested Entities

Financial Stress

Financial stress drives huge rise in credit card applications  -  SMH  -  John Collett  February 8, 2023

Financial System Enquiry website 2014

Financial System Inquiry Final Report released Sunday 7 December 2014  - Final Report PDF

Foreign Transaction Fee

Forfeit Interest Free Period Purchase Interest  or  Forfeit Interest Free Period And Pay Interest On Each Purchase From Each Purchase Date

Four Important Trends Shaping the Future of Credit Cards

Four-Party Schemes

Four Pillars

Four Economic Reasons for the Campbell Committee Report – Sept 1981

Four Types of Revolvers

Freedom of Information - Access to documents

Free Ride

From pizzas to credit cards - how to encourage better consumer behaviour – AFR – Chanticleer - TONY BOYD - 02 Jan 2019

From the Archives, 1960: Reserve Bank of Australia created  -  SMH - History

Frydenberg's move to dump lending laws 'shortsighted', consumer groups say - The Guardian

Government response to the Financial System Inquiry - Improving Australia's Financial System - 20 October 2015

Government response to the Financial System Inquiry - Response summary - 20 October 2015

GOVERNMENT LIABILITY IN NEGLIGENCE

Globalisation and Rising Inequality in Australia Is Increasing Inequality Inevitable in Australia?

Grace Period

Have we over-estimated the power of the central banks?

Helping Australians avoid the credit card debt trap - Chapter 5 -

High incomes run up relatively less debt on major cards  -  Roy Morgan

Highest Interest Rate Credit Cards

High Fee — Low Credit Predatory Credit Cards Prey Upon the Poor

History of the Credit Card

HONEST HISTORY

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics - Review of Australia's Four Major Banks  -  QUOTES FROM THE FOUR CEO'S

How Australians Pay: New Survey Evidence   RBA

How Credit Card Companies Make and Earn Money - ValuePenguin - Nov 2022

How predatory banks are hooking credit cards customers  -  News Daily - Aug 27, 2015

How Does Monetary Policy Impact the Economy?

How much are you paying in credit card interest?

How regulators lost their way on banking competition Crikey - Feb 2018

How the poor pay for the rich - SMH - By Annette Sampson  April 1 2002

How to capture the full extent of price stickiness in credit card interest rates - University of Wollongong - January 2012

How to choose the right credit card - And avoid falling into the credit card trap  27 Jan 2017

How to complain | ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments

How to overcome financial stress

IMPACT OF DEREGULATION ON THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM - in the early to mid 1980s - Chapter 3  Westpac publication

IMPROVING AUSTRALIA’S FINANCIAL SYSTEM - Government response to the Financial System Inquiry

Improving consumer outcomes and enhancing competition - Aust Govt - May 2016

Initial Reaction by the Reserve Bank  History 1985

Interchange Fees

Interchange Fees and Transparency of Card Payments -  2015-16 Review of Card Payments Regulation

Interest And Fees Revenue

Interest And Penalty Fees Revenue

Interest Costs

18% interest rate Cap on all Credit Card Purchases and Cash Advances in Australia was removed in April 1985 following the Campbell Report

Interest Rate Caps: protection or paternalism?  -   CCCL Research Paper December 2008

Interest Rate Charged  or  Interest Rate

Interest rates are set to keep rising in 2023, but the RBA is playing with fire  SMH  Ian Verrender  SMH  6 Feb 2023

Interest rates: Lowe’s not the problem, the system is rotten  - Ross Gittins   February 12, 2023

The interest-free credit card trap snaring unwitting borrowers - The Guardian - 25 March 2012

Interest Free Period or Grace Period

Interest rates and informed choice in the Australian credit card market  - Dec 2015  -  The Senate - Economics References Committee

Interest rates on Credit Card debt

Intellectual Property

Interim Report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry

Introducing Competition and Informed User Choice into Human Services:  Identifying Sectors to Reform - FCA

Is it time for corporate watchdog ASIC to be put down? -  ABCNews -  Business Editor, Ian Verrender  26 Nov 2018

'It's not even scratched the surface': bank victims demand royal commission 2.0 - Aust Guardian - Martin Farrer and Gareth Hutchens  3 Dec 2018

It will take more than a royal commission to tame the banks

I WISH I’D KNOWN SOONER!

Key Facts Sheet

LABOR AND FINANCIAL DEREGULATION - The Hawke/Keating Governments, Banking and New Labor

Labor pledges royal commission into bank behaviour  - 

Labor's proposal of a royal commission into banks is reckless

Labyrinth of ‘Concealed Spiders’

Lack Financial Acumen

Late Payment Fee

Life Changing Loans at No Interest - March 2014 - Good Shepherd Microfinance’s

Line Of Credit

Literacy Documents and Defined Terms

Loan Comparison Rate

LOAN RATE STICKINESS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE  -  RBA Paper 1992  HISTORY

Interest rates since 1900 in Australia  -  HISTORY

Lowest Interest Rate Purchase & Cash Advance Credit Cards

Major National Debt Helpline campaign: act early if you’re experiencing financial stress - FINANCIAL COUNSELLING AUSTRALIA - 26 April 2021

Mapping adult literacy performance - National Centre for Vocational Education Research  - 2011 -  BACKGROUND PAPER

Margin Between Average Business Card Purchase Interest Rate And Official Cash Rate Has Increased

Material Interest And Fees

MEDIA RELEASE - Australia's literacy and life skills: ABS - November 28, 2007

Media Release 12 April 2001 -  Designation of Credit Card Schemes in Australia

Media Release Payments System Reform - Date - draft standards for the EFTPOS and Visa Debit payment systems for public comment

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING - RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA AND AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY dated 12 October 1998

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING  -  AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION AND RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA dated 18 March 2002

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING  -  AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION AND ACCC dated 15 Dec 2004

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING  -  AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION AND RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA dated 8 Sept 1998

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN APRA AND ASIC dated 8 Oct 1998

Memorandum of Understanding - ASIC & APRA - 12 October 1998

Memorandum of Understanding  -  Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission dated 30 November 1999

Memo RBA board: Time to stop digging in deeper on interest rates - SMH - Ross Gittins - 31 Oct 22

MISFEASANCE IN PUBLIC OFFICE, EXEMPLARY DAMAGES AND VICARIOUS LIABILITY - 2010

Merchant

Merchant Service Fees

Minimum Monthly Payment  or  Minimum Payment Amount

MONETARY POLICY FRAMEWORK - RBA

Monetary policy framework - Treasury

Money and power - The case for better regulation in banking - The Australia Institute 2010   HISTORY

MoneySmart  -  How buy now pay later works

Monthly Account Service/Keeping Fee

Monthly Credit Card Statement

More than just a piece of plastic  -  CHOICE  Andy Kollmorgen  21st August 2014

Multiple Credit Cards

National Consumer Credit Protection Bill 2009

National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Home Loans and Credit Cards) Act 2011

NATIONAL CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION REGULATIONS 2010 - SCHEDULE 6

National Credit Reform: Enhancing Confidence and Fairness in Australia’s Credit Law dated July 2010

National Debt Helpline

National Financial Literacy Strategy 2014–17

Navigating the new Framework - APRA, RBA, ASIC and ACCC HISTORY

Non Bank Financial Institutions  or  NBFIs

Negligence and the Duty of Care

New ACOSS report claims gap between Australia's rich and poor is widening

New data reveals vulnerable Australians are drowning in debt - Salvation Army

New frontiers in credit card segmentation: Tapping unmet consumer needs  -  McKinsey on Payments  -  May 2014

New Maximum Interest Rate Cap

New research shows Buy Now Pay Later is not a free or low-cost option compared to traditional credit cards

Newspaper articles re Credit Card debt, Usurious Interest Rates and Compulsive Buying Disorder

Nine Examples Of Predatory Advertising

Numeracy And Literacy Authorities

Numeracy And Literacy Discrimination

Numeracy And Literacy Targeting

Numeracy And Literacy Range Of Australians or Numeracy And Literacy Skills

Numeracy And Literacy Skills or Skills Numeracy And Literacy Range Of Australians

Occasional Revolvers

OECD says now is the time for a review of the Reserve Bank – SMH  - Shane Wright  -  Sept 15, 2021

On 20 Feb. 2004 the RBA imposed an Access Regime under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 on the previously designated Bankcard, Mastercard and VISA credit card systems.

On Charged Scheme Fees

One year after Hayne: 'Profound' changes for banks, but can they last?  -  SMH -  Clancy Yeates  Jan 31, 2020

One Week Of Hearings - Six Hours a Day For Five Days

Online Payment Provider

Operational Risk Capital

Order Of Payments

Order of Payments Allocation Practice

'Order of Payments' Allocation Practice eventually outlawed by the Reserve Bank

Origins of the Reserve Bank of Australia

Other Documents That Recognise Vulnerable (At Risk) Credit Cardholders

Outstanding Indebtedness or Total Amount Owing

Overnight Cash Rate

Overnight Money Market Interest Rate

Over-the-Limit Fee  or  OverLimit Fee or  Overlimit Fee

Overview of Financial Services Post-Deregulation - 2002 (History of deregulation)

Overview of the Australian credit card market - Chapter 2

PACIOCCO & ANOR v AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED

Papers/Articles on Statutory Duty do not seem to preclude a Class Action against the Reserve Bank and ASIC

Parliamentary Bestowed Mandate

Parliamentary Acts, MoU's and RBA Credit Cards Regulatory Decisions relied upon

Particulars of deregulations and subsequent re-regulations are well chronicled

Payday Loans: Helping hand or quicksand? -  An examination of high-cost short term lending in Australia, 2002-2010 - Zac Gillam and Consumer Action Law Centre - Sept 2010

Payment, clearing and settlement systems in Australia - 2011

Payment Cards

Payment Card Networks

Payment Card Access Regimes - 18 Dec 2014

Payment Due Date

Payments System

Payments Systems Board  or  PSB

Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 

Payments System Board’s Mandate and Objectives

Pay off your credit card debts in the right order  -  The Guardian  -  Sept 2009

Penalty Clause or Penalty

Penalties: High Court endorses “legitimate commercial interests” test - 27 July 2016 -  King & Wood Mallesons

Persistent Revolvers

Personal loan interest rates remain static despite plunging cash rate - SMH -  John Collett  Sept. 8, 2019

Philip Lowe and Reserve Bank about to face a moment of truth  - SMH   Shane Wright July 15, 2022

Philip Lowe pushes back on RBA review as economists say it’s time - Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke - August 9, 2021

Predatory Sale Of A Financial Product or Predatory Lending or Predatory Advertising or Predatory Marketing

Previous Month's Purchases

Price Stickiness for Credit Cards

'Primary Information' that should be prominently displayed on each Credit Card Product advertisement:

Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, acknowledges that "...unfair and predatory practices..." have existed with Credit Cards in Press Release "Protecting Aussies from predatory credit card practices - 22 June 2017

Principal-Agent Relationship

Principal Regulator of the Payments System

Prior to 1985 the maximum rate that could be charged on credit cards had been set at 18% pa by the Reserve Bank of Australia.  In April 1985, this rate was deregulated." (bottom of page 7)

Productivity Commission Inquiry into competition in the Australian financial system - Submission by ASIC - Sept 2017

Productivity Commission Inquiry into competition in the Australian financial system: Hearings on draft report - ASIC - 6 March 2018

Productivity Commission Inquiry Report Overview & Recommendations - Competition in the Australian Financial System - No. 89, 29 June 2018

Productivity Commission's Staff Working Paper - Links Between Literacy and Numeracy Skills and Labour Market Outcomes dated Aug 2010

Productivity Commission Staff Working Paper  -  Literacy and Numeracy Skills and Labour Market Outcomes in Australia - May 2014

Productivity Commission Research Report Business Regulation and VET Volume 3 – VET - April 2012

Proposed User Pays Credit Card Fee Structure and Annual Purchase Fee Revenue

Project Team - 'AUSTRALIAN CORE SKILLS FRAMEWORK' Report

PRUDENTIAL CONTROL OVER THE BANKING SYSTEM: FAILURE OR SUCCESS

PSB or  Payments Systems Board 

Purchase or Purchases

Purchase Interest Rate

Purchase Usage Fee

Push for tighter Caps on credit card limits  -  SMH  -  Clancy Yates  -  27 Aug 2017

Q & A

Quantitative, Qualitative, 'Credit Card Distress' Authorities, Numeracy And Literacy Authorities, And Newspaper Article Evidence Of Unfair Credit Card Costs Which Prey Upon Financially Uneducated And Vulnerable Australians

Quotes from reputable authorities about unconscionable advertising of Credit Cards by Credit Card Issuers resulting in some Credit Cardholders being issued multiple Credit Cards

RBA  -  Archives

RBA calls out banks on 'sticky' credit card interest rates - SMH - 2015

RBA - Card Payments Regulation: From Wallis to Murray

RBA - Credit Cards - Regulatory Decisions

RBA - Designations - for the ATM System

RBA determined annual Standard Credit Card Purchase Interest Rate

RBA has done naught to require Credit Card Issuers to lower interest rates in line with the fall in the Cash Rate

RBA has made efforts to divest itself of its Parliamentary Bestowed Mandate

RBA Has Greater Obligations Than The Bank of England Or The US Fed. Reserve

RBA Has Not Recognised Vulnerable Credit Cardholders

RBA brought credit card schemes in Australia under its regulatory oversight - Media Release 12 April 2001

RBAInfo emails sent 30-Jan-17

RBA's Reform of Credit Card Schemes in Australia:  "A Consultation Document" – Dec 2001

RBA reforms to card payment systems - Submission to the Financial System Inquiry -

RBA Submission to the Senate Inquiry into Matters Relating to Credit Card Interest Rates - Aug 2015  -  Submission 20

RBA -  Media Release - Designation of Visa Debit Card Scheme in Australia

RBA - Media Release - Reform of Credit Card Schemes in Australia – Access Regime DateNumber 2004-02

RBA  designated Bankcard, Mastercard and VISA credit card systems as an Access Regime under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 on 20 Feb. 2004

RBA  -  Credit card revolution is on the way - SMH  - Shaun Drummond  March 14, 2014

RBA - Policy Statements - 1970s

RBA  -  Payments Data

RBA Research Discussion Papers   -  1971–1980

RBA Review ‑ Terms of Reference

Reasons for the Decision to Designate the EFTPOS Payment System

Record Profits Ahead As US Credit Card Debt Soars Past $890 Billion - 1015

Reform of the EFTPOS and Visa Debit Systems in Australia - Final Reforms and Regulation Impact Statement – April 2006 - Access Regime and Standards

Regulating the cost of credit - Consumer Affairs Victoria - 6 March 2006  HISTORY

Regulators say huge credit card profits driven by the poor   SMH  -  Aug 28 2015

Reserve Bank Act 1959  No. 4, 1959  Compilation No. 29  Compilation date:  14 April 2015

RESERVE BANK BILL 1959 - Second Reading on 8 April 1959

Reserve Bank of Australia and Credit Cards - Peter Mair, Finance and Banking Writer, ABC's RN - 29 August 2002

Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin  -  July 1998 - Australia’s New Financial Regulatory Framework  HISTORY

Reform of Credit Card Schemes in Australia - Media Release -

REFORM OF THE EFTPOS AND V ISA DEBIT SYSTEMS IN AUSTRALIA - A CONSULTATION DOCUMENT – FEB 2005

Reforming the ‘dog’s breakfast of federalism'

Regulators Hit American Express with $85 million in Customer Refunds

Regulatory Capture

Regulatory madness in the banking world

Relationship with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Reports and insights into problem debt in the UK

RESERVE BANK ACT 1959

RESERVE BANK ACT 1959 - SECT 11

Reserve Bank of Australia

Reserve Bank Copious Publications on Credit Cards or Reserve Bank Has Published Copious Publications On Credit Cards

Reserve Bank of Australia ("RBA") - Our Role

Reserve Powers of the RBA

RESERVE BANK REFLECTIONS ON REGULATING RETAIL PAYMENTS -   A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION  -  PETER MAIR  -  29 June 2015

Responsible lending practices in relation to consumer credit cards - Department of Fair Trading 2008

Responsible Lending Conduct Obligations & Maladministration  -  Issue 5  -  MARCH 2011  -  Financial Ombudsman Service

Restructure of Credit Unions, Building Societies and NBFIs Into Banks: FIN203 Banking and Finance  - The Best Writer

Review of Card Payments Regulation  -  Conclusions Paper  -  May 2016 -  RBA

Review of Card Payments Regulation - Regulation Impact Statement - May 2016 - RBA

Review of the coordination and funding of financial counselling -  ABS  -  21 March 2019

Retail Supply Side

Revolvers

Revolving Line Of Credit

Rewards Programs

Ring around the roses

Ross Greenwood, David Koch and Paul Clitheroe slam banks over ‘unconscionable’ credit card lending – news.com.au – 1 Sept 2015

Royal Commission

ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY - DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE

Royal Commission into the Financial Services Industry - Positive Policy

Royal Commission Final Report – Where to next? - EY Report

Sam Dastyari questions RBA payments powers

Scrapping responsible lending laws a 'disaster' that could drown Australians in debt, consumer groups say  The Guardian  -  Ben Butler  Wed 20 Jan 2021

Section 50 of the Banking Act 1959

Seduction by Plastic

Senate inquiry accuse banks of capitalising on consumer inattention - finder -

Senate - Economics References Committee - Interest rates and informed choice in the Australian credit card market - Dec 2015

Seven Parties

Six Pivotal Credit Card Publications

Smart cards.  Dumb card holders?

SocietyOne hands credit scores power to customers

Staff Paper - Recognition USA 2015

Standard Credit Card Purchase Interest Rate

Standards for agencies employing financial counsellors

Statement Due Date

Statement on Monetary Policy May 2016

Statutory Duty

Stop Hiding the Free Option: Credit Reporting Agencies Told to Lift Their Game

Store Cards

Strategic Review of Innovation in the Payments System: Results of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2010 Consumer Payments Use Study - June 2011

Strip RBA board of rate-setting power: review - SMH - Shane Wright - 9 Nov 2022

Structure of the Federal Reserve System  -  About the Federal Reserve System

Study on interest rate restrictions in the EU

SUBMISSION BY THE OFFICE OF REGULATION REVIEW - mid 1990s

Submission in relation to the performance review of Australian Securities and Investments Commission by Consumer Credit Legal Centre (NSW) Inc - Oct 2013

SUBMISSION TO COUNCIL OF FINANCIAL REGULATORS - STORED VALUE PAYMENTS FACILITIES - Peter Mair - 8 Oct 2018

Submission to the 'Responsible lending practices in relation to consumer credit cards' - Nov 2008

Submission to the Review of Innovation in the Regulatory Framework for the EFTPOS System: Consultation on Designation

Submission to the Treasury Consultation on Improving Consumer Outcomes in Credit Card Usage - FCA

Submission to Treasury’s Payments  -  System Review: Issues Paper  -   Nick Hossack Benchmark Analytics  Lodged by email: PaymentsReview@treasury.gov.au   31 Dec 2020

Submission to the Senate Inquiry into Matters Relating to Credit Card Interest Rates - Aug 2015

Submission to Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into Matters Relating to Credit Card Interest Rates  -  11-Aug-2015

Submission to the Financial System Inquiry - RBA - March 2014

Sunrise host David Koch says Australians are being ‘ripped off’  - news.com.au  -  28 Aug 2015

Super low interest rates come with side effects – Magellan - OCT 2020  Michael Collins

Supplementary Submission to the Financial System Inquiry - RBA 1997

Supplementary Submission to the Financial System Inquiry - RBA 2014

Supporting Documented Evidence

Surcharge Fee

Surcharging for credit and debit card use may become the norm under new rules - Surcharge - June 29, 2016

Survey of Aspects of Literacy (SAL) - 1996

Table of Acts

Targeted Credit Cardholders With Low Financial Literacy Capacity

Taxing consumer loyalty program rewards

Technical Note: Series Breaks in Bank, NBFI and Financial Aggregates Tables - Changes in Classification of Financial Institutions - Bulletin – Dec 1992

8.6 The Bank’s Oversight of High-value Payment Systems, Central Counterparties (CCPs) and Securities Settlement Facilities (SSFs)

The Australian Financial System in the 1990s - Marianne Gizycki and Philip Lowe  HISTORY   RBA

The Australian Retail Banking and Payments System  -  State of Play -- PETER MAIR  -  September 1999

THE AUSTRALIAN RETAIL PAYMENTS SYSTEM --- SOME UNRESOLVED ISSUES  -  PETER MAIR - APRIL  1999

The Banking Regulation Review - Clayton Utz - 2014

The Bank's Card System Reforms - Review of Card Payments Regulation - March 2015

The brutal truth of Australia's monetary policy: Higher interest rates are coming, and it will hurt some more than others  The Drum    David Taylor  - 18 Feb 23

The cancer at the heart of Australian banking  -  unherd  DANIEL ZIFFER  - February 12, 2019

The central bank under fire: Has the RBA failed Australians?  -  SMH  - Shane Wright  -  APRIL 6, 2021

The Changing Way We Pay: Trends in Consumer Payments

The Consequences of Low Interest Rates for the Australian Banking Sector - RBA  - 2022 - Anthony Brassil*

The government is gambling with addicts’ lives  -  News Daily -  Aug 24, 2015

The high cost of credit - A discussion paper on affordable credit alternatives

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) - 12th Survey - Melbourne Institute

The interest-free credit card trap snaring unwitting borrowers - The Guardian - 25 March 2012

The Merits of the Civil Action for Breach of Statutory Duty

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) in the Regulatory Reform Division

The origins of APRA

The Personal Credit Card Market in Australia:  Pricing over the Past Decade - March 2012 - RBA

The post-GFC banking sector

The Public Interest Test

The RBA is not a law unto itself — an external review would be good for it  - The Conversation -  Richard Holden - 13 August 2021

The real story behind the credit card debt headlines - Crikey - GLENN DYER AND BERNARD KEANE  JUL 05, 2018 

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL INDICATORS AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY: 1968-1987 - RBA

The reversal interest rate: A critical review - Rafael Repullo  Professor of Economics and Director CEMFI  

THE ROLE OF INTERCHANGE FEES IN TWO-SIDED MARKETS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION ON PAYMENT CARDS

The Role of the Payments System Board

The Strange Behaviour of the Credit Card Market

The 10 costliest credit cards in Australia - and why you should avoid them - Andy Kollmorgen - CHOICE - 17 June 2020

The UK Cards Association Credit Card Best practice guidelines

The Unpleasant Truth About Australian Banking  - www.bankinfoline.com HISTORY

THE UNPLEASANT TRUTH ABOUT AUSTRALIAN BANKING    Chapter 9 - ARE YOU ALL IN OR ALL OUT ?  HISTORY

Three ABC TV Programs Spread Over Six Weeks

Three Federal Government Bodies That Regulate Financial Services

Three Financial Services Regulators

Three-Party Schemes

Three Purchase Benefits Of Tap And Go

Three Landmark RBA Published Papers

Three U.K. Expeditious Regulator Reports that established 'Five New Rights for U.K. credit and store card users

Time to drug test the financial sector

To Act In The Public Interest

Too early for banks to pat themselves on the back over credit card changes - SMH - Clancy Yeates - 29 October 2017

Total Amount Owing or Outstanding Indebtedness

Two Exceedingly Costly Monthly Interest Charging Practices

Trade Practices Act 1974

Transactors

Travel Insurance - Credit Card

TREASURY SUBMISSION TO THE SENATE ECONOMICS REFERENCES COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO MATTERS RELATING TO CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES

Treasury pays in three with release of BNPL Options Paper - Coors, Chambers Westgarth - 9 Dec 2022

Twin Peaks 2.0: Avoiding Influence Over an Australian Financial Regulator Assessment AuthorityAndrew Schmulow - University of Wollongong

Two Effortless Changes to Credit Cards

Two Of Australia's Three Financial Services Regulators  or  Two Of Three Government Bodies That Regulate Financial Services

Two-Sided Market

Two Terms Of Reference

Unconscionable Conduct

Unconscionable Credit Card Advertising

Unconscionable Credit Card Interest Charging

Unconscionable Credit Card Practices

Unfair Contract Terms

University of Melbourne - Student Services - Financial Aid - Credit Cards

Unsecured Personal Loans

Unsecured Personal Loans 2016

Usage Fee

User Pays Fee

User Pays Principle

U.S Federal Reserve

Usury

Usurious Unsecured Personal Loan Interest Rates Charged On Many Credit Cards

Usurious Interest Rates decreed by State Administrations in USA range from 8% in Alaska to 24% in Maryland

Variable Interest Rate - USA

Unsecured Variable Term Personal Loans Interest Rate

Variation to the MasterCard and Visa Access Regimes: Details-stage Regulation Impact Statement

Various Market Segments

Veda Advantage Ltd

Wages growth is at record lows – unless you're a Commonwealth Bank CEO

Wallis Report 1997 on the Australian Financial System: Summary and Critique

Watchdogs quiet as banks gouge credit cards  -  Daily News  -  2 June 2015

Welter Of Evidence

We need an inquiry into ASIC - it's an embarrassment - SMH  -27 Mar 18

What is the purpose of the Federal Reserve System?

The Wesley Report: Facing Financial Stress

What Changes does Comprehensive Credit Reporting bring? - Veda

What do we mean by 'vulnerable' and 'disadvantaged' consumers? Debt collection and the Fair Trading Act 1999

What happens if interest rates don't go up soon? The inflation 'genie' will be out of the bottle  -   ABCNews - David Taylor   22 March 2022

What is a royal commission

What is the point of ultra-low and negative interest rates – and who do they help? - SMH - Stephen Bartholomeusz   Oct 2, 2019

What is the Purpose of Superannuation?

What is the allocation of payments clause?

What’s your credit card interest rate?

What You Must Know Before Transferring Credit Card Balances

When is a penalty clause not a penalty clause? - Clayton Utz

What is quantitative easing? And what’s helicopter money? - SMH  -  Shane Wright  November 4, 2020

What lies ahead for the property market this year: more apartments and low interest rates  -  ABC News  -

What never-ending credit card debt is doing to Australians - CHOICE  Saimi Jeong    2 June 2020

When the natives get restless upheaval has happened!!!

Wholesale Supply Side

Who Gains and Who Loses from Credit Card Payments?

Who is the Reserve Bank really looking after? - Independent Australia - By Murray Hunter | 23 April 2013

Who Pays for Credit Cards?

Why does the Payments System Board of the Reserve Bank believe that it has no regulatory power to seek Credit Card Issuers to provide financial data which identify the demographic cohorts that contribute 80% circa of Interest And Penalty Fees Revenue?  

Why the RBA needs to consider a prudent 'financial stability' interest rate hike - AFR - Mar 24 2017 at 9:24am - Christopher Joye

Why the Reserve Bank is pushing us towards a recession that we don't need to have - ABC News  Ian Verrender   13 Feb 2023

With Opportunity comes Responsibility for the Financial Counselling Sector

Worrying trend: Australia’s credit card debt rises for 3rd month in a row  - RateCity - Laine Gordon  7 Mar 2022

Writer or The Writer

Writer's CD submission to RBA sent 8 Dec 2011

  You are what you vote: the social and demographic factors that influence your vote  - The Conversation -

You can’t trust the financial regulators—they are complicit in the banks’ crimes! - Citizens Council

'You don't fit in, f--- off', Reserve Bank whistleblower told - SMH - 30 Sept 2013

You have been warned: Reserve Bank to side with banks on credit cards - Crikey  2001

Zero Interest Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers

Zero-interest balance transfers credit cards can have sting

'Zero balance' credit card deals under ASIC microscope

Zero Interest free loans and credit card balance transfers