Bushfire assistance / bank hardship teams
5 February 2021
West Australians affected by bushfires in parts of the state are encouraged to contact their bank to access a wide range of available assistance
“With more than 80 homes and properties lost to date, tragically many West Australians will be facing financial difficulty on top of everything else”, said Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh.
“The message from banks is clear: don’t tough it out on your own, your bank is ready to help”.
In recent years bank hardship teams have been working with communities impacted by natural disasters, offering customers a range of services including deferred loan repayments, waiving fees and charges and restructuring of existing loans.
“The most important consideration right now is staying safe. But when West Australians affected by recent bushfires are ready to pick up the pieces, their bank will be ready to help,” Ms Bligh said.
“The most important consideration right now is staying safe. But when West Australians affected by recent bushfires are ready to pick up the pieces, their bank will be ready to help,”
ABA CEO Anna Bligh
ABA member banks offer a range of services to help customers affected by bushfires or other circumstances outside their control. These can include:
- A deferral of scheduled loan repayments
- Waiving fees and charges, including break costs on early access to term 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 bushfires are also encouraged to contact their bank to access various forms of assistance.
For more information, or to find the number for your bank’s hardship team go to dev2.ausbanking.ds1.pensoagency.com/doingittough.
Latest news
Transcript
Doorstop in Sydney on new mandatory industry scams codes
Read more
13 September 2024
Anna Bligh: This new framework is a comprehensive approach to the terrible scourge of scams. This will mean that every single part of the scam chain where scammers try to take the hard earned money of Australians will now have to play a role in preventing scams, detecting them and keeping Australians safe. Journalist: I… Read more »
Media Releases
Mandatory industry scams codes important part of winning war against scammers
Read more
13 September 2024
Banks welcome the release of draft legislation to establish a new Scam Prevention Framework to better protect consumers and drive scammers out of Australia. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said winning the war against scammers will only be possible through a collective effort across the entire scams chain, including from government, banks, telcos and social media… Read more »
Transcript
Interview on ABC Radio Sydney on surcharges
Read more
4 September 2024
Craig Reucassel (Host): It’s also there was a bit of an inquiry into banking in parliament last week, NAB boss Andrew Irvine complained that he’d paid a 10 per cent surcharge when he bought a cup of coffee in Sydney. Surcharging has been outlawed in parts of the United States, Canada, Europe and Britain. Is… Read more »