|
National Australia Bank and its Community Consultation Forum today announced a range of banking initiatives designed to assist low income and eligible older members of the community. The first initiative is the introduction of a new bank account, National Concession Card Account, which effectively offers fee-free banking for National customers who are pensioners or health care cardholders. This development follows extensive research into the needs of those on low incomes, commissioned by the National and its Community Consultation Forum. In announcing the account today, the National's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Frank Cicutto, acknowledged that the banking industry had, until recently, been slow to respond to the concerns of its customers and the community in relation to transaction fees for those with lower incomes. "There is no doubt that in transforming the banking industry we have left some of our customers and the community behind. "For the past two years the National has been working with the Community Consultation Forum to listen to these concerns and today we are launching the first set of initiatives in response. "The National is also committed to an ongoing process of consultation with the Community Forum," Mr Cicutto said. The chairman of the National's Community Consultation Forum, the Reverend Tim Costello said that while the group had been advising the National for the past two years, he was pleased to launch the findings of the report, Community Welfare - Bank Research Project, which outlines concerns from a wide range of community groups. "We have worked together to understand the issues and this report voices the particular concerns - about fees and accessibility - that ordinary and poor Australians have with the services that banks currently offer. "The journey has not always been smooth. But, to its credit, the National has listened to these concerns and this initiative is the first step of a broader program which we believe will help repair its relationship with the community. "We will continue to work with the National on the other initiatives outlined in the report and hope to announce further details later this year," Rev Costello said. "Our forum will also be asking governments to ease the tax burden on basic bank accounts for those on low incomes. Removing taxes such as BAD for these customers would be a great benefit and is the right thing to do," he said. The National's Community Consultation Forum was formed in 1999 and comprises representatives from: The Salvation Army, ACOSS, Anglicare, Catholic Social Services, Mission Australia, Australian Pensioners and Superannuation Federation, Baptist Church, Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service and National Disability Consumer Caucus. The National's CEO - Australian Financial Services, Mike Pratt, said the National Concession Card Account would effectively offer fee free banking for pensioners and other long-term social security recipients. "The free transaction levels were set in consultation with the Forum, which surveyed over 200 low income individuals and community sector organisations to determine how often these customers needed to access their accounts and through which means, such as branch or electronic," said Mr Pratt. The account provides eligible customers with a monthly rebate of $40, which in turn provides up to 13 free over the counter transactions a month, or 66 ATM withdrawals, EFTPOS transactions or Mini-statements, or a combination. Customers who are eligible for a disability concession will be entitled to at least 114 free transactions of any type per month. Additionally, the National Concession Card Account has no account keeping fees and no monthly balance requirement. "These measures provide eligible customers with comprehensive fee protection," said Mr Pratt. "This account has been designed around the extreme case, not the average, so eligible account-holders will have effective coverage," Mr Pratt added. The actual cost of this initiative will depend on usage and will be funded from the bank's profit. The account will be launched on 1 August 2001 and will be available to existing National customers (as at today - 24 May). All new customers joining the National from 24 May 2001 will have a waiting period. These customers will be eligible for the National Concession Card Account from 1 August 2002 and must have operated a National account continuously for at least one year. National Australia Bank - Community Banking Initiatives
|
