Application of the responsible lending obligations of a number of banks may be looking shaky, if a survey by APRA chair Wayne Byres on Friday is any guide.In a speech to a Finsia forum, Byres took the sector to task on three related themes on mortgage funding.APRA, he said, in recent work was "seeking additional assurance that tighter loan policies are actually translating into more prudent lending decisions."In many more words Byres in essence summed up the position as "they are not." The APRA chief reminded his audience that "it's important that lenders accurately assess borrower income and living expenses."Living expenses, he acknowledged, are tough to measure "and so banks often utilise benchmarks as a proxy where borrower estimates appear too low."Benchmarking may be a backstop in banks' processes ripe for review."Our recent work showed the lion's share of loans by the larger lenders are assessed using expense benchmarks, rather than the borrower's own estimates," Byres said. "There is nothing wrong in principle with using benchmarks …. [but] … we still see scope for improvement here." Byres then turned to another topic where big banks have not played along."The industry has been slow to adopt positive credit reporting," Byres complained, "creating a blind spot in terms of sound credit assessments. "A move to positive credit reporting is needed to mitigate this shortcoming," he said, a reform the industry campaigned for but won't adopt.Byres final gripe: "Effective oversight [of] lending practices … [and] …. stronger policies mean little if they can be overridden, or if data deficiencies mean compliance with policy cannot be fully monitored."