Abacus – Australian Mutuals has come out in support of a House of Representatives Committee call yesterday for the Federal Government to reform credit.

Abacus chief executive Louise Petschler said the capacity of lenders to assess credit risk and lend responsibly is becoming even more important as the economy enters a downturn.

She welcomed the committee’s support of an expansion of the categories of personal information that could be included on credit files held by credit reporting agencies.

“Credit unions and mutual building societies have the lowest mortgage exit fees in the market, so we welcome the recommendation on solicited credit limit increases.

Petschler said she also “strongly backs” the recommendation that external dispute resolution be compulsory for all credit providers.