Financial inclusion

Who we’re helping and the actions we’re taking

We seek to identify and take appropriate actions to enhance access to our services for different customer groups at risk of being excluded or underserved.

People on low incomes

We’ve been providing no interest loans and other financial assistance to people on low incomes for over 20 years in partnership with Good Shepherd, opens in new window. Support includes:

• $68.6million made available for microfinance lending between October 2022 and September 2023.
• 378,304 approved microfinance loans for Australians on lower incomes since 2003.
• $482.6million provided in microfinance loans since 2003.

To support our customers, including those on low incomes, we offer an affordable everyday transaction banking account.

This account has:

• no monthly account fees
• no minimum monthly deposits
• no overdrawn fees
• no ATM withdrawal fees at over 4,000 ATMs across Australia.

We also offer a reward savings account to help motivate our customers with their saving goals.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, our work to disrupt predatory lending and keep vulnerable borrowers safe from unfair, high-cost loans, starts by helping people access essential products and services without taking on debt they can’t afford. Since 2014, BNZ, opens in new window has delivered $32.6 million in lending and advances through four key partnerships:

1. Good Loans with Good Shepherd NZ
2. Paynow with Paysauce
3. Money Sweetspot
4. Habitat for Humanity Home Repair Programme

More information:

How NAB and Good Shepherd help communities prosper (PDF, 3MB), opens in new window

2023 Annual Report (pg 27) (PDF, 9MB), opens in new window

Australians experiencing difficulty in accessing safe and liveable homes

We’re helping borrowers on the lower end of the income spectrum access affordable and specialist housing. In 2023 we:

• helped 5,127 first home buyers on lower incomes access home ownership through the First Home Guarantee (FHG) and other government schemes.
• Expanded the NILs loan purpose to include bond and rent in advance.

Our target is to lend at least $6 billion by 2029 to increase supply of affordable housing:

• We’re financing specialist disability accommodation (SDA) solutions at scale.
• We’re working closely with the Federal Government's major housing financing body, Housing Australia to help increase the supply of social, affordable and community housing. This work helps to create the right financing conditions to align with the Federal Government’s ambition for 40,000 social and affordable homes by 2029.

First Nations customers and communities

• Providing comprehensive support to our First Nations customers guided by our Reconciliation Action Plan.
• Servicing a dedicated toll-free line for First Nations customers which we promote via radio campaign in eight traditional First Nations languages and broadcast in WA, NT, QLD, and SA on First Nations radio channels.
• Increasing access to small amounts of credit to First Nation customers with 10,575 no interest loans, opens in new window provided between October 2022 and September 2023 in partnership with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand.
• Providing tailored financial solutions in partnership with SEFA (Social Enterprise Finance Australia). Four loans have been provided to First Nations owned purpose-driven organisations so far.

More information:

Reconciliation Action Plan 2022-2023 (PDF, 17MB), opens in new window

First Nation customer support

Customers experiencing vulnerability

• Improving our product design capability using our Inclusive Product Guidance Tool.
• Providing an ‘opt-in’ restriction on certain gambling transactions to help customers have greater control over their spending.
• Providing hardship support and disaster relief grants through NAB Ready Together, to support customers and colleagues impacted by natural disasters.
• Delivering educational tools and information on how to improve and maintain good financial health. These resources can help customers cope with the rising cost of living, avoid financial stress and achieve important financial goals.
• Creating online resources to help customers access financial hardship, external support services and information about security awareness.

Customers, colleagues and communities living with disability

• Providing an inclusive and accessible banking experience for customers with disability, through our Accessibility Action Plan – including driving accessibility through our branch and ATM network, mobile and internet banking and our communications with customers.
• Supporting disability organisations and businesses to solve emerging issues, particularly businesses that are owned and led by people with disability. We are implementing a plan of action to address barriers and ensure equity in services and support.
• Actively working towards being an employer of choice for people with disability by skilling our recruiters and People Leaders to be disability confident, ensuring we have the tools and technology to work productively and that our workplace actively retain colleague with disability.
• Participation in the external Access and Inclusion Index benchmarking tool that provides evidence of our progress in disability inclusion and accessibility.
• We’re a member of the Valuable 500 and a Gold member of the Australian Disability Network.
• We participate in Australian and global data collection, implement best practice approaches in disability inclusion and accessibility and network/collaborate with government, corporate and not for profit organisations Enhancing the healthcare landscape.
• HICAPS, opens in new window formed a strategic partnership with Health Care Providers Association (HCPA). This collaboration, with a focus on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), streamlines participant and provider experiences supporting improved well-being of NDIS participants. 

Customers experiencing domestic and family violence, including financial abuse

• Blocking abusive messages on NAB Internet Banking and the NAB app.
• We investigate and act if we identify (or are made aware of) unacceptable account conduct.
• We reasonably exercise our rights under the account agreement if we believe we need to protect customers from financial abuse. We may suspend, cancel or deny an account holder access to a product or its features.
• Published by the Australian Banking Association (ABA), the Safe and Savvy guide (PDF, 5MB), opens in new window has been created to help customers detect potential elder financial abuse, scams and fraud for both our customers and their loved ones.
• Support for customers experiencing domestic and family violence, including financial abuse, through our specialised Customer Support Hub.

More information:

Domestic and family violence support

Elder financial abuse support

Customers and communities experiencing natural disasters

• Hardship support to customers impacted by severe natural disasters, including a range of financial relief measures.
• Disaster Relief Grants of $1000 for eligible customers living in government declared impacted areas.
• In partnership with organisations, including Disaster Relief Australia, opens in new window, Girls on Fire and Queensland Fire Service, we support communities at risk of natural disasters.
• NAB Foundation is partnering with Disaster Relief Australia, opens in new window to bolster the organisation’s community and corporate volunteer capacity.

More information:

Emergency grants

Natural disaster relief support

Customers with communications barriers

• Our new ‘Easy English’ guides, published in late 2023, have been developed with accessible information specialists to ensure all our customers can understand the services and products available.
• For customers with limited English or who prefer to speak in a language other than English we’ll arrange for an interpreter to help customers with their banking if one is available.

More information:

Accessible banking and Easy English guides

Interpreter services for customers

LGBTQIA+ customers

• We’re progressively updating application forms, documentation and our systems to be more inclusive.
• We have a trans and gender diverse banking page with information on how to make changes to name, gender and title to better reflect who they are.

Education resources for bankers and financial counsellors

• We’ve implemented mandatory Inclusive Banking training for our bankers to better serve customers experiencing vulnerability.
• We offer targeted training and education to help financial counsellors support customers experiencing vulnerability and other underserved groups. The training educates them about the hardship support available to their clients, including access to our Customer Care team.
• Our training also helps financial counsellors protect their clients from cyber crime and scams. The Cyber Awareness webinar covers common scams, red flags to look for and practical advice about how to keep safe.