Banks offer financial support for flood victims

Banks have stepped up to provide a package of financial relief options for individuals and businesses hit by yesterday's major floods and are urging people to get in touch if they need help.

Westpac, BNZ and Kiwibank are all offering temporary overdraft options while ASB has said it will tailor help to people's individual needs.

ANZ is also expected to announce an assistance package today but has yet to confirm what that will be.

In a statement Westpac said it was committed to helping customers affected by the recent flooding and had a range of options including: a temporary overdraft, the ability to stop home loan repayments for up to three months, a temporary reduction in home loan repayments and immediate access to term investments.

Westpac's business customers have also been offered the ability to have a temporary overdraft or defer payment of business credit cards.

"Any customer who has been impacted by severe flooding should call us on 0800 400 600 to discuss their individual needs," the bank said.

BNZ chief executive Anthony Healy said the bank understood customers would have different needs now and in the coming weeks.

"If you are a BNZ customer and you need assistance, please get in touch with us and we will do our best to help.

"We know that our customers need to first look after themselves, their families and their businesses and that financial flexibility means different things to different people," said Healy.

BNZ said both business and personal customers could apply to access temporary overdraft facilities or credit limit increases, restructure business loans without incurring fees, suspend loan payments on business and home loans and access term deposits early, and without penalty.

Kiwibank said it would offer affected customers a three month overdraft of up to $1000 or an increase to $1000 for existing overdraft or revolving credit facilities at standard rates to assist with unexpected expenses as a direct result of the event.

It will also offer a simplified application process and no overdraft fees, early access to term deposits and faster access for hardship assistance for home loans.

An ASB spokeswoman said the bank had been working with customers affected by the flooding to assess their individual needs and would offer support as our customers assess the damage.

"We encourage any impacted customers to call us on 0800 803 804 to discuss their circumstance and how we can tailor appropriate support for them."