Just over 1300 bank employees and customers were surveyed by FSU during April 2010.
Almost one in three bank employees is worried about their customers’ ability to repay loans, while almost every second person feels under pressure to push more credit on customers even when not requested by them. In the light of RBA concerns about the level of debt held by Australian Consumers, some of the sales strategies utilized by banks appear to raise eyebrows.
The survey by the Finance Sector Union showed that 29 per cent of its members felt uncomfortable about their customers’ ability to meet their financial obligations with new debt products.
About 43 per cent said they were ”are under pressure to sell home loans, personal loans and other debt products, even if customers don’t ask for them and may not be able to afford them”.
Worries from bank tellers and workers come as the total Australian mortgage debt for owner-occupied housing hit a record $774 billion in April, while debt for investment purchases totalled $330 billion, according to data from the Reserve Bank. Personal loans totalled $141 billion in April.
‘The way that staff remuneration is directly linked to the amount of credit products they sell, is recognised as one of the major reasons for the global financial crisis.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday warned that Australia’s record debt levels could expose borrowers to greater “financial shock” should interest rates or joblessness rise – as happened in the US during the financial crisis.