Mike Laing

CEO

Mike Laing has been the CEO of the Australian Retail Credit Association (ARCA) since July 2017, and served as Chair of the ARCA Board from 2012 to 2018. ARCA is Australia’s peak industry association for credit providers and credit reporting bodies. ARCA’s members account for well over 95% of all consumer lending in Australia. ARCA focuses on the use of data for credit decisioning and management. ARCA developed and governs the industry rules for credit reporting in Australia, and has contributed to the development of the legislation, rules and standards for open banking. Mike has over 30 years experience in financial services as an executive, company director and advisor. Mike holds a Master of Commerce (Hons I), is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Event Sessions Featuring Mike Laing

Panel

Personal Unsecured Consumer Lending ‐ How to Differentiate in a Crowded Market

AltFi Australasia Summit 2018 - Monday 16 April 2018

Richard Blumberg said that investing heavily in legal and compliance was a must for fintechs in order to make sure that their model works. New entrants that don’t do this and make mistakes suffer dearly. He added that 92% of the personal loan market belongs to the banks thanks to credit cards.
Mike Laing said that the personal loan market was cannibalised and turned over to the banks thanks to the introduction of debit cards and eftpos systems, which enabled cards to be taken at point of sale. When eftpos came in that allowed credit cards to get online authorised purchases. The retailers up until that point had their own private label card programmes.