Lenders of instant cash loans in Australia should know that they have many legal responsible lending obligations as determined and applied by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) through the application and administration of the Regulatory Guide 209. Lenders need to realise that a loan system that only measures the credit risk of the borrower, but does not assess the borrower's capacity to repay the loan as contracted, will not meet the responsible lending requirements, although such a system may provide a good prediction about the overall risk of default in the loan portfolio. The Explanatory Memorandum states that the fact that an application for a loan has satisfied a loan lender's own policies for affordability does not necessarily mean that the application meets the standard required by the legislation.

However, lenders of instant cash loans in Australia need to know that it is expected that the types of inquiries made and assessments conducted for the purposes of the loan lender's internal standards and guidelines on affordability would, in most cases, be very similar to those that are required in order to assess the likelihood that a borrower can meet the financial obligations under the proposed loan contract. ASIC's guidance is technology neutral but depending on the channel the lender uses, the lender may need to adjust their processes to ensure compliance. ASIC considers that a lender can meet their responsible lending obligations using an online or face-to-face approach. As ASIC have stated above, ASIC considers that the obligation to make reasonable inquiries and take reasonable steps to verify information is scalable in that what the lender needs to do to meet these obligations will vary depending on the circumstances.

Lenders of instant cash loans in Australia also need to be aware of the fact that the way ASIC regulates the responsible lending provisions is the same regardless of the way that the lender delivers their loan lending service. It is up to the lender to determine how the lender wants to accept and process applications for their loans. Factors to consider include whether the lender is operating a high-volume business, which might lend itself to applications being taken by email or via the internet and the complexity of the loan that the lender is offering. The lender is obliged to take reasonable steps to verify a borrower's financial situation. Generally, this will require some positive steps to verify the information provided by the borrower. As discussed earlier, what constitutes taking reasonable steps to verify information is scalable and what amounts to reasonable verification will depend on the information and resources that the lender has access to and the facts and circumstances of each case.