Displaying items by tag: consumers

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC has welcomed the Australian Government’s in-principle agreement to new competition and consumer laws recommended by the ACCC to address harms caused by digital platforms, and the potential benefits to consumers and small businesses from the regulatory changes.

Consumers are being warned to watch out for scam websites impersonating high-profile Australian retailers when shopping online this Black Friday, Cyber Monday sale weekend on 24 to 27 November.

The shift towards online shopping continues to grow in Australia, with 33% of respondents to a survey anticipating doing more holiday shopping online this season than the previous one. 

Australia’s competition watchdog, the ACCC, has called on consumers, businesses and interested stakeholders to provide submissions about data broker services in Australia, as part of its five-year digital platform services inquiry.

Micro and nanoplastics are pervasive in our food supply and may be affecting food safety and security on a global scale, according to a new study.

Australia’s competition and consumer watchdog the ACCC says it is allocating $58 million in new funding to the fight against scammers and to build the technology needed to support high frequency data sharing with a range of agencies, law enforcement and the private sector,

The competition watchdog, the ACCC, has vowed to continue to support reforms to protect consumers and businesses following a new report into social media services which has highlighted a range of harms occurring across the services.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) received over 3,000 complaints from consumers experiencing financial hardship over the last 12-months to the end of March this year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is calling on banks, bank customers and other interested stakeholders to share their views on competition and consumer issues affecting retail deposit products.

GUEST OPINION by Troy Sellers, Solution Architect Lead, Aiven: In today’s fast-paced digital world, the volume of real time data being generated daily is nothing short of phenomenal. Consider how much real-time data has already driven a boom in productivity: we wouldn’t have apps that know and can deliver your favourite pizza order, the gig economy, or Uber without real-time systems. Sure, ordering a taxi is fine when you can plan, but the convenience of ordering a ride at the exact moment it’s needed has changed the game. To satisfy the needs of today’s consumer, businesses need fast analytics and fresh data. 

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has launched a consumer education campaign “Tell your telco – they can help” to assist consumers who are having difficulty paying their telco bills.

Scams continue to wreak tremendous personal and financial damage on consumers and the Australian economy, warned ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb when unveiling the ACCC’S annual compliance and enforcement priorities for 2023-24.

The competition watchdog, the ACCC, says more than 15,000 potentially unsafe products were delisted by online marketplaces signed up to its Australian Product Safety Pledge last financial year, with 98 per cent of regulator-initiated take down requests actioned within 2 days.

Australian telco providers are failing to meet the expectations of Australian customers, according to new research from low-code platform provider Pegasystems.

An investigation by New Zealand competition regulator, The Commerce Commission, has led to a backdown by New Zealand’s largest electricity distribution business, Vector, on moves that would have cost its customers millions of dollars over the coming decades.

A newly released report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services in association with Mastercard has given “clear and compelling guidance for business leaders looking to innovate in the year ahead”, and while many organisations prioritise integration of the most up-to-date technology, “what consumers are really looking for is trusted solutions that offer exceptional value”.

ING Bank has paid penalties totalling $53,280 for allegedly failing to comply with Consumer Data Right (CDR) Rules and making a false or misleading representation to consumers, after the ACCC issued it with four infringement notices.

Smaller broadband providers continued to increase their share in the NBN wholesale market and expand their presence across the NBN in the September quarter 2022, the ACCC reports.

Incode has set its sights on securing marquee clients and channel partners on its journey to process 3M transactions in the next 12 months 

COMPANY NEWS: Incode, the leading provider of world-class identity solutions for global enterprises, today announced its expansion into Australia and New Zealand. The launch comes at a pivotal moment to help ANZ businesses shore up their security amid increased vulnerabilities and security breaches at some of Australia’s most high-profile businesses. 

Major supermarket retailers will form part of a Soft Plastics Taskforce to explore solutions to address the immediate effects of REDcycle suspending its return-to-store soft plastics recovery program, following a conditional ACCC interim authorisation.