6 May 2020
COVID-19 Timeline
What’s happened in the Australian banking sector during the coronavirus pandemic.
February 14: coronavirus assistance offered
February 14: ABA COVID-19 assistance hub created
March 11: Government announces first stimulus package of $17.6B
March 20: small business relief package announced featuring 6 month deferrals
March 20: mortgage relief announced – 6 month deferrals available for homeowners
March 22: Government announces second stimulus package of $66B
March 25: COVID-19 FAQs published
March 30: business relief extended to landlords and renters
April 3: contactless payments to increase from $100 to $200
April 5: banks support JobKeeper – credit available to bridge gap till payments begin in May
April 6: credit scores secured – COVID-19 deferrals will not affect credit ratings
April 8: SME loan guarantee begin – 50% govt-guaranteed loans, no repayments for 6 months
April 24: dedicated JobKeeper business hotlines open
April 26: Bank CEOs support COVIDSafe app – will download app and encourage staff to do same
April 29: voluntary debit cards for passbook holders announced
April 29: COVID-19 anti-scam hub updated, fact sheets in 12 translations
May 8: 100,000 extra COVID-19 loan deferrals in a week – brings total to 643,000
May 16: 1 in 14 mortgages have now been deferred – 429,000 in total
Latest news
Media Releases
Banks defer repayment of 429,000 mortgages due to COVID-19
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16 May 2020
Banks have deferred the repayments of one in fourteen mortgages totalling more than $150 billion to assist Australians through the COVID-19 pandemic.
FAQs: what you need to know about COVID-19 bank relief
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15 May 2020
Helping businesses to remain viable and keeping people in their homes is good for everyone.
Media Releases
Banks deferred 100,000 extra loans this week: total more than 643,000
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8 May 2020
Australia’s banks deferred an extra 100,000 loans, this week, including approximately 50,000 home loans, to help customers through the COVID-19 Pandemic. Total number of loans deferred is now at least 643,000.
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