A leading financial literacy commentator and joint founder of global credit education company, GlobalED, says more effective financial literacy measures are vital - and it will benefit both consumers and brokers.
Kym Dalton, who recently returned from financial literacy discussion in the USA, says he endorses the
recent comments made by
FBAA CEO Peter White about the need for tangible and measurable financial literacy programs.
“Having recently returned from the USA where a round of discussions were held with lenders, mortgage insurers and regulators it’s clear that the issue of the lack of borrower comprehension when considering mortgage products is a global one,” he said.
In Australia, GlobalED is trying to tackle this problem with its Australian arm, CreditED. CreditED is an independent online financial literacy program that educates consumers about residential loans. The program involves going through a series of videos, accompanied by multiple choice questions that confirm a borrowers’ understanding of the things that they ‘must know’ and ‘need to consider’ before taking out a mortgage loan.
According to CreditED group co-founder and managing director, Brett Bartlett, CreditED will benefit both consumers and brokers.
“CreditED will provide major benefits to both consumers and the finance industry,” CreditED group co-founder and managing director, Brett Bartlett said.
“The provision of financial literacy education that is specific to purpose and is delivered prior to committing to a finance decision will result in better consumer outcomes. The industry will benefit through the increased transparency and trust generated with their clients by utilizing the CreditED program.
“Measured comprehension will also assist lenders and brokers more successfully resolve disputes at the IDR [internal dispute resolution] stage avoiding delays and costs of the EDRs [external dispute resolution] or court action.”
