Westpac offers financial support to flood-hit customers

Westpac has launched an emergency support package for customers, with a range of options available, including home and business loan deferrals and emergency credit card relief.

Westpac and St.George customers affected by floods could be able to accecss:

• Deferred repayments on home loans for up to three months
• Deferred repayments on credit cards, where they can apply to defer repayments to their card for up to 90 days
• Personal loans at a discounted interest rate with no establishment fee, for those wishing to purchase replacement goods
• Waived interest rate adjustments for those wishing to withdraw term deposits
• A halt on all interest accrual on unsecured credit products for a period of up to three months
• Defer repayments on business loans for up to three months
• Loan restructuring for existing business loans without incurring the usual bank establishment fees
• Assistance for affected business customers with merchant facilities, including monthly terminal access fee waivers for up to three months

Ross Miller, chief customer engagement officer at Westpac commented Westpac and St. George are offering a range of support measures to help households and businesses that are facing uncertain times, and damaged homes and properties.

“This is a stressful time for many families and businesses in the impacted areas, and we know it’s not over yet with similar weather forecast over the next couple of days,” Mr Miller said.

“While safety should be everyone’s first priority, we want our customers to know that when they need financial support, we have our customer teams standing by ready to respond.”

Retail customers can apply online for assistance, or they can call their banks’ dedicated hotlines.

Business customers with both banks have been told to contact their relationship manager or the dedicated hotlines.

[Related: ANZ exec expects pain when cash rate climbs]