Westpac has announced it will extend its financial hardship plan for mortgagees to small and medium-sized business customers that are struggling in the downturn.
Westpac (which also owns St George Bank) has joined the other major banks in offering to postpone home loan repayments for customers who lose their jobs.
But in a surprise move, chief executive Gail Kelly announced yesterday that the company’s “Westpac Assist” program would also be extended to small business.
Under the program, small business customers struggling with loan repayments are offered assistance via extended loan terms and the freezing of repayments for up to 12 months.
“We will be extending this package of principles to small business and…introducing additional capacity and capability to support these customers,” Kelly told reporters.
“The last thing we want as banks is to have customers that are feeling at financial hardship and feeling that they have nowhere to go. The Australian economy is slowing; it’s really important that as an industry we step up and do what we can to support our customers in this time.”
Westpac’s move to support SME customers could put pressure on other banks to follow suit.
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James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
