Bank regulators use blunt language at the Australian Banking Association conference, challenging lenders eager to re-enter lucrative wealth and advice markets. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission warns that “banking boldly” means little if institutions still mishandle core customer obligations.
Regulators highlight that trust damage rarely comes from cutting-edge products. It more often comes from long-running failures in everyday banking.
ASIC points back to the financial services royal commission as a reminder of how basic errors can snowball into systemic misconduct. The watchdog stresses that lenders must honour promised interest rates, apply fees correctly and handle hardship requests consistently.
Those functions may be unglamorous, yet they sit at the heart of community expectations and legal duties. Regulators say they will judge banks on operational discipline, not just innovation slogans.
Enforcement data reinforces that pattern. ASIC typically ends up in court over missed interest payments, fee mistakes and poor responses to customers in financial difficulty, not experimental fintech ventures.
These cases often involve large remediation programmes, slow fixes and repeated systems failures. The regulator frames these issues as core trust risks for the sector, especially as banks seek to grow higher-margin wealth and advice businesses again.
Until basic processes stabilise, bold product pushes remain a secondary priority.
