Consumers are using more direct debits than ever. But with 1 in 3 Australians experiencing financial stress, direct debits can be risky.
While some providers make pausing a subscription easy, many providers and banks make cancelling direct debit excessively difficult.
The Bank Code Compliance Monitoring Committee published a report in October 2017 stating that when consumers asked cancel direct debits, 54% of bank staff gave the wrong advice to consumers, stating that consumers had to contact billers directly. This is still unacceptably high since the previous report. Seven banks told the committee they collectively received more than 15,500 direct debit cancellation requests a month.
Source:
Banks are failing in their obligations to cancel direct debits 12 Nov 2017, Caitlin Fitzsimmons The Age