The banking industry may trample on the terrain of the debt consolidation sector, working alongside the financial counselling sector to set up a "new debt repayment service to help people manage multiple debts."The initiative is one of a package of new measures spelled out by the Australian Bankers Association yesterday to progress its Better Banking program, a mid-2016 response to the push (largely driven by the Labor Party) for a Royal Commission into the industry.?The ABA said this "renewed commitment to support customers in financial difficulty" would include "making our financial hardship support programs more accessible" and working with financial counsellors to support the setup of the new debt repayment service to help people manage multiple debts.A second measure is a plan to introduce "new best practice standards on valuation practices and how banks appoint receivers," intended to allay long running unease, especially in the farming sector, over the seizure of businesses in spite of previously impeccable repayment records.The third measure publicised yesterday is a fresh push to make account switching easier.ABA Chief Executive Steven Münchenberg told Banking Day there was, as yet, no time frame to put in place the debt repayment service or standards on valuations, both being dependent on cooperation with third parties (such as financial counselling services) or liaison with them (such as agribusiness associations)."There's a lot of work to do on how to work it out," Münchenberg said.It will be aimed at "people who have got multiple debts, such as credit card trouble and servicing a whole host of unpaid utility bills."Typically each creditor will try to get their money back. Under this service the customers and financial counsellor will work out a plausible repayment plan," with staged payments allocated to each creditor.Bill payment smoothing services have fared poorly when tried in Australia in the past.In 2003, Australia Post introduced a "Billmanager" product that aimed to entice consumers to consolidate and then average out their utility and council bills through periodic payments. Post pulled the plug on this service in 2007.Münchenberg said there was at least one encouraging precedent operated by Stepchange Debt Charity in the United Kingdom.Fiona Guthrie, chief executive of Financial Counselling Australia, said the sector had been working on a parallel service for more than three years.The concept, she said, was "completely different" to a bill smoothing service. "It's for people in financial hardship."We don't have a service like this in Australia at the moment. If done properly it will be a fair and ethical option."Its an arrangement that will work."There are a lot of for profit providers. We're talking about a social venture. It will only work if banks work in cooperation with the community sector, to make sure this is fair and ethical."