CBA expands flood support measures

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has announced that it will double the threshold of its donation-matching initiative for those impacted by the floods throughout northern NSW and Queensland, raising its threshold from $500,000 to $1 million.

The major bank announced its donation pledge last week (1 March), stating that it will be providing $500,000 to support impacted customers and businesses while also dollar matching up to $500,000 of the donations made through its CanGive Flood Appeal. 

The CanGive Flood Appeal was launched on 1 March. 

Under this latest development, CBA will be extending this matching pledge to $1 million. 

The major bank has stated that it expects the total donations made by itself, its customers, and its community will be $2.5 million.

CBA chief executive Matt Comyn said on the announcement: “Through this time we have seen communities rallying together to help each other and we thank customers for their donations, and are pleased to be getting the funds out to help those who need it most.”

Mr Comyn added that the major bank is also providing additional support measures for CBA and CommInsure customers in the flood-impacted areas throughout northern NSW and Queensland. 

These are said to include deferred payments on home loans and credit cards, as well as personal and business loans, as well as temporary overdrafts, additional loans and emergency credit limit increases, subject to credit approval.

CBA has stated that these measures will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

“While some of our branches and ATMs have been affected, most of our services are up and running for our customers and we are working to return the remaining branches and ATMs to full operations as soon as possible,” Mr Comyn later noted. 

“We are also ensuring additional cash supplies are delivered to affected areas to help communities get back on their feet, and working with Australia Post to ensure we have support available to customers in areas where our branches are inaccessible.” 

The measures made by CBA come in the wake of additional measures of support made by both major and non-major banks. 

Westpac announced late last week (3 March) that it will be launching a $2 million fund to help small businesses impacted by the floods. 

This itself followed the big four bank’s emergency support package for customers, which was announced last month. 

Similarly, NAB announced last month it will provide relief measures for its impacted customers, including immediate access to grants valued at $1,000 and both credit card and personal loan relief. 

ANZ has also confirmed that it will be offering assistance for its affected customers, including a short-term payment relief on home loans, credit cards and personal loans.

Further, the digital home deposit platform Deposit Assure also announced last week (4 March) that it had donated to the Red Cross emergency fund for the communities hit by the floods. 

New government support measures have also been announced with both the Queensland and federal governments revealing they will jointly release a $558.5 million package, with financial support for small businesses and farmers affected by the floods.

The federal government also announced last week it had extended its disaster grants to the NSW North Coast, as well as South-East Queensland. 

As part of the Disaster Recovery Payment, up to $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child, are available for flood-impacted victims.

[Related: Federal government offers grants, as ‘flooding disaster’ escalates]