About the Code
The Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice
The Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice (the Code) sets out the minimum service standards that customers can expect from customer owned banking institutions.
It is a set of clauses that guide how customer owned banking institutions who subscribe to the Code will act when providing banking services and products to consumers.
These clauses form the basis of the Code’s specific obligations.
The Code sets out a framework for principles of conduct that require customer owned banking institutions to be open, fair and honest in their dealings with consumers.
The Code also provides timeframes for customer owned banking institutions to respond to complaints and requests for information.
Subscriber compliance with the Code is assessed annually through our monitoring program.
Under our Charter, we can impose a range of sanctions to enforce compliance.
The 2022 Code v2.0 came into effect on 28 October 2023.
The objective of the Code is to improve service standards for customers who engage customer owned banking institutions for assistance in banking products and services; and increase consumer trust and confidence in the customer owned banking sector.
In consultation with the COBCCC, COBA will arrange for the Code and the Code Compliance Committee’s Charter and operations to be independently reviewed at intervals of no more than five years.
The independent reviewer must consult with a broad range of stakeholders.
The 2022 Code v2.0 is effective 28 October 2023.
Previous versions of the Code are available here.
Find out if your customer owned banking institution subscribes to the Code here.
The COBCCC is an independent compliance monitoring body established under its Charter and the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice under the authority of the Customer Owned Banking Association.
Find a copy of our Charter here.
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