From 5 October 2021, issuers and distributors of Easy Street products are required to comply with new Product Design and Distribution Obligations under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Design and Distribution Obligations and Product Intervention Powers) Act 2019.

The DDO obligations require financial institutions to put in place a product governance framework to ensure that customers are placed at the centre of the entire product lifecycle and ensure products are targeted to the right people. It aims to help consumers obtain financial products that are appropriate for their objectives, financial situation and needs.

Putting it in to practice

Easy Street has always acted responsibly in ensuring products meet the needs of our members. While the framework will mean some additional compliance procedures and some new information being made available in relation to our products via our website, it doesn’t change the fact that our members have always been at the heart of what we do. In reality, it simply formalises many of the processes we already had in place to ensure we deliver the right products to the right people, while introducing some new ones.

How does the DDO benefit Easy Street members?

The basis of DDO is designed around helping consumers obtain appropriate financial products for their needs by requiring that issuers and distributors target their products to the right people.

Easy Street members will benefit by being able to access more detailed information about the product to help them make the best product choice for their individual circumstances through the availability of a Target Market Determination (TMD) document which will be available on our website from 5 October 2021.

A TMD contains information about a product including who the product is suited to (the target market) based on their needs, objectives and financial situation. It also includes information on who can distribute the product, when we may need to review the product and/or the target market.

We will also engage those businesses that distribute our products to ensure they are issued with appropriate training and guidance.

Not all products are covered under DDO

Credit facilities, guarantees, new and existing basic banking products, products requiring a PDS (insurance), RSAs, Foreign cash, money transfers and guarantees by banks are part of the DDO.

Business credit products, MySuper, most ordinary shares, fully paid ordinary shares in a company, retired products not offered to new members, lenders’ mortgage insurance and the first home loan scheme guarantee, as well as margin lending facilities and credit leases are not included in the DDO.

For more information

From 5 October 2021, if you have a question about a product TMD on our website, we encourage you to give us a call to make sure the product is right for you.