A plain English commitment to responsible lending is the centrepiece of the final report of the independent reviewer of the banking code of conduct.The independent reviewer, former NSW education bureaucrat Jan McClelland, proposed this form of words:"We will be responsible lenders in approving credit, offering credit limit increases, supporting customers facing financial difficulty; and promoting responsible use of credit."McClelland has ignored some bank resistance to her previous issues paper and said: "It is my number one recommendation - that a key commitment to responsible lending be included up at the beginning, in the current clause two of the code."McClelland has also recommended substantially expanding section 25 on credit assessment. A new part A deals with applications for credit and includes an agreement by banks to use at least two of four stated criteria for assessing applicants for new credit or credit limit increases. The four criteria are customer supplied information, the customer's repayment history, internal credit scoring and information from credit reference agencies.The new part B deals with unsolicited credit limit increase offers and sets guidelines regarding when and how these might be appropriate.Catriona Lowe, co-chief executive of Victoria's Consumer Action Law Centre said McClelland had stopped short of setting out that unsolicited credit card limit increase offers should not be used in certain circumstances. "It does specify more particular criteria for signatories to apply in deciding whether to send, or the quantum of, an unsolicited offer. It remains to be seen how effective these criteria will be in practice," said Lowe yesterday.