Westpac today announced a new financial assistance initiative aimed at assisting customers in danger of falling into financial difficulty as the centrepiece of its new Responsible Lending Principles.

The new Westpac Assist unit has been established to boost Westpac's ability to identify and assist those credit card customers who may be at risk of defaulting on their financial obligations to Westpac. The aim is to provide assistance to help them maintain control of their financial affairs.

The new Westpac Assist will:

• Make outbound calls to card customers who are showing signs of repayment stress and provide solutions to assist them in managing their debt
• Handle inbound calls from consumer customers experiencing financial difficulties including those seeking temporary assistance on repayments

"This new initiative is all about early prevention and providing our customers with the assistance and right information to help them regain control of their finances," Mike Pratt, Westpac's Group Executive Consumer Financial Services said.

"We are committed to continuously looking for ways to help customers secure their financial health and success. We are confident the new Westpac Assist will improve our ability to identify and assist customers in difficulty who, might have otherwise, been missed through our normal processes.

"We don't always get it right, but initiatives like Westpac Assist demonstrate Westpac's ongoing efforts to consult with our stakeholders and deliver practical outcomes to ensure we continue to move in the right direction."

The new Westpac Assist has evolved as part of Westpac's commitment to clear responsible lending principles.

These principles include the following commitments from Westpac:

• We will seek to lend only what our customers can afford to repay
• We will market our products and services responsibly
• We support customers facing financial difficulty
• We help to improve our stakeholders financial literacy and capability

Mr Pratt said these new principles were an evolution of Westpac's long-standing commitment to responsible lending and went further than just being a statement.

"These principles will continue to drive improvement across the bank," Mr Pratt said.

"The principles guide Westpac's efforts in working with our customers and other stakeholders to identify financial difficulty and hardship, improve financial literacy and enhance education to help them secure a stronger financial future and develop a more sustainable relationship with their bank."

Mr Pratt stated that the Responsible Lending Principles would complement the leadership position that Westpac had already taken on promoting sustainability practices across the bank and throughout its supply chain partnerships.

Westpac has been named by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as one of the most sustainable banks globally for the past seven years as well as receiving Australia's top award for sustainability – The Banksia Award earlier this year.

Other Westpac initiatives that are consistent with our Responsible Lending Principles include:

Hardship

• Westpac's Financial Solutions Team currently services customers who have defaulted on their credit obligations to Westpac by providing repayment options. Westpac Assist will provide preventative support to this unit
• Financial support to the proposed Financial Counselling Foundation to support work and research provided by the foundation's counsellors
• Reduction of Outward Dishonour fee to $10 (previously $25) and Account Overdrawn Fee to $10 (previously $20) for all Westpac Basic accounts and selected Student and Youth accounts
• All Basic accounts (which are available for welfare recipients) and selected Youth and Student transaction accounts have a $0 monthly account service fee, saving customers up to $60 per year
• Improved credit scoring to better assess customers capacity to repay
• Targeted programs for groups such as students and the elderly who may have unique hardship profiles such as the Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships in Cape York

Financial Literacy

• Westpac has a Financial Literacy working group which developed Financial First Steps program in 2002 to improve financial literacy
• Through this program we've trained more than 1,000 staff to deliver more than 1,300 financial literacy workshops to customers since 2002
• Simplified disclosure documents and provided advice on how customers can avoid or minimise paying fees
• Developed a free guide for younger people 'Getting Your Money Sorted' which contains financial advice on budgeting, saving and investment
• In 2006/7 we extended our support to provide Financial Literacy workshops to disadvantaged teenagers through the Youth Off the Streets program Transparency
• Developed our Principles for doing Business in 2005
• Established a Customer Advocate and Consultative Committee to drive continuous learning and improvement
• Publish an annual Stakeholder Impact report outlining achievements and future targets for improving the sustainability of our business
• Ensure all credit increase offers for customers come with a clear and transparent affordability statement