11 November 2019
Australians facing financial difficulties as a result of fires raging across New South Wales and Queensland are being encouraged to contact their bank for assistance when they are able to do so.
CEO of the Australian Banking Association Anna Bligh said that banks have hardship teams ready to assist customers affected by the fires.
“While the immediate concern for all is the safety of communities in bushfire areas, banks stand ready to help customers where needed across NSW and Queensland,” Ms Bligh said.
“Any customer who has been impacted by these fires should contact their bank when they are able to do so to access a wide range of help, including deferring loan payments, waiving fees and consolidating debts,” she said.
ABA member banks offer a range of services to help customers affected by bushfires and other natural disasters such as drought, floods or other circumstances outside their control. These can include:
- A deferral of scheduled loan repayments
- Waiving fees and charges, including break costs on early redemption of Farm Management Deposits
- Debt consolidation to help make repayments more manageable
- Restructuring existing loans free of the usual establishment fees
- Deferring interest payments on a case-by-case basis
- Offering additional finance to help cover cash flow shortages
- Deferring upcoming credit card payments
- Increasing emergency credit card limits.
Small businesses affected by these bushfires are also encouraged to contact their bank to access various forms of assistance to help them through the recovery.
For more information, or to find the number for your bank’s hardship team go to dev2.ausbanking.ds1.pensoagency.com/doingittough.
Latest news
The ABA has today released the findings of a strategic review undertaken by Accenture into the roll-out of Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR) regime. The CDR went live to customers of major banks in July 2020, and to customers of other banks in July 2021. Approaching 4 years since its launch, the ABA commissioned Accenture… Read more »
The Australian Banking Association welcomes ASIC’s approval of an updated Banking Code of Practice that will continue to drive better banking outcomes for customers. The updated Code strengthens consumer protections by providing customers with safeguards that are in addition to the law. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said this Code will provide an even higher… Read more »
Australia’s digital banking boom is continuing with payments by mobile wallets surging by 35 per cent in the last year alone, according to a new report released today by the Australian Banking Association. The 2024 ‘Bank On It’ Report shows that in the last year alone customers made $126 billion in payments with their mobile… Read more »