18Credit reporting body use of credit reporting information to facilitate a credit provider’s direct marketing

18  Credit reporting body use of credit reporting information to facilitate a credit provider’s direct marketing

 (1) This section is made for the purposes of section 20G of the Act.

Note: Section 20G of the Act deals with the use or disclosure of credit reporting information for the purposes of direct marketing.

Restrictions on the use of credit reporting information

 (2) A credit reporting body must not use credit reporting information for the purposes of developing any tool or service for provision to a credit provider or affected information recipient for the purposes of assisting them to:

 (a) assess the likelihood that an individual may accept an invitation to apply for, or an offer of, any of the following:

 (iv) a variation of amount of, or terms on which, insurance in relation to mortgage credit or commercial credit is provided;

 (b) target or invite an individual to apply for, or accept an offer of, any of the following:

 (iv) a variation of amount of, or terms on which, insurance in relation to mortgage credit or commercial credit is provided;

 (3) A credit reporting body must not provide a tool or service of the kind described in subsection (2) to a credit provider or affected information recipient.

Restrictions on eligibility criteria for use of credit reporting information in the context of direct marketing

 (4) A credit provider must not nominate eligibility requirements to be used by a credit reporting body to assess, in accordance with section 20G of the Act, whether or not an individual is eligible to receive the direct marketing communications of the provider, that indicate that the individual is experiencing, or may in the future experience, difficulty in meeting repayments under their existing credit unless it is to exclude such individuals from the direct market communication.

Note: Subsection 20G(2) of the Act permits credit reporting bodies to use credit reporting information for the purposes of direct marking by, or on behalf of, a credit provider in certain circumstances. For this subsection to apply, the body must use the information to assess whether the individual is eligible to receive the direct marking communications, having regard to eligibility requirements nominated by the provider: see subsection 20G(3) of the Act.

Requests to opt out of use of credit reporting information for direct marketing

 (5) A credit reporting body must give effect, as soon as practicable, to a request by an individual not to use their credit information for the purposes of direct marketing.

Note 1: An individual may request that a credit reporting body not use credit information about them for the purposes of direct marketing by, or on behalf of, a credit provider: see subsections 20G(2) and 20G(5) of the Act.