Bank of Queensland yesterday released its Pillar 3 report for the three months to May, revealing a big jump in home loan arrears. The value of non-performing residential mortgages rose from A$520 million in February to $599 million in May – a 13.5 per cent increase over three months. The bank has a $63.5 billion mortgage book. The bank also reported a 50 per cent increase in non-performing loans in its “other retail” portfolio. Loyalty programs are the latest targets for scammers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned. Program members are receiving text messages telling them their points are expiring and asking them to go to a fake website and provide account details. Most of the reports to Scamwatch are from Qantas Frequent Flyer, Telstra and Coles loyalty program members. From yesterday, 25 July, the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority has begun accepting licensing applications for financial institution licences under the new Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime. Under CoFI, banks, insurers and non-bank deposit takers such as credit unions will need to be licensed by the FMA to continue to provide financial services to consumers after 31 March 2025. This change came about after the 2018 and 2019 reviews by the FMA and RBNZ into the conduct and culture of NZ’s banks and life insurers. CoFi requires financial institutions to “treat consumers fairly”  through establishing, maintaining and implementing a fair conduct programme - which needs to be planned out before they apply - and complying with regulations that ban target-based sales incentives and regulate other types of incentives.