Anmerkungen:
In: Insolvency Law Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2022, pp. 160-170
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments August 17, 2022 erstellt
Beschreibung:
Payday loans, consumer leases and, increasingly, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products occupy a central place in Australian consumer law and policy debates. These products have all been identified by consumer advocates as a source of financial stress. Credit cards typically receive far less attention in these debates. Yet some policymakers have expressed concern regarding the significant credit card debts owed by Australian consumers, particularly those on low incomes. These commentators point out that low-income earners are the most likely to carry ongoing or “revolving” balances on their credit cards, and that therefore they pay more in interest, relative to their incomes, than high-income earners. This study draws on data provided to the authors by the Australian Financial Security Authority, the regulator of Australia’s personal insolvency system. The data records the debts owed by 18,887 individuals who entered bankruptcy or a debt agreement between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2019. The authors analyse this data to explore the role played by payday loan, consumer lease and BNPL debt in personal insolvency. The authors’ analysis of the data finds that, among the individuals in this sample, credit card debt is significantly larger than payday loan, consumer lease or BNPL debt, both in dollar terms and as a proportion of overall debt. Based on this finding, the authors suggest that the government should consider ways to prevent consumers from accruing unmanageable credit card debts. The authors outline several law reform measures that might be considered in this context