Financial inclusion actions that help our customers - NAB

Our focus for financial inclusion

We’re committed to providing inclusive and accessible banking services. We take measures to enhance access to products and services to meet the diverse needs of our community.

Delivering inclusive products and services

We’re committed to providing inclusive banking services for customers including, but not limited to:

  • people on low or no incomes
  • First Nations customers
  • customers living with disability
  • LGBTQIA+ customers
  • people with difficulty accessing housing
  • people experiencing domestic and family violence, including financial abuse.

Identifying and removing barriers

We’re working to identify and remove barriers to inclusion through these actions:

  • Tailoring products, services and engagement.
  • Building colleague capability through training.
  • Providing non-financial support and resources.
  • Establishing dedicated management and governance.
  • Creating partnerships across industry, government and the not-for-profit sectors.

Providing extra care for vulnerable customers

Our Customers Experiencing Vulnerability Framework (2024 to 2026) (PDF, 1MB) makes it easier for customers to get the support they need. It focuses on:

  • more quickly identifying when customers are experiencing vulnerability
  • providing customers with support at every opportunity
  • helping customers build financial resilience.

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

We work to identify and enhance access to our services for customer groups at risk of being excluded or underserved.

  • We’ve been providing no interest loans (NILs) and other financial assistance to people on low incomes for over 23 years in partnership with Good Shepherd. Support includes:

    • $60 million provided in NILs between October 2025 and September 2026.
    • Over 480,000 microfinance loans, totalling $665.6 million, issued to Australians on lower incomes since 2003.
    • More than 1.1 million Australians benefitting from microfinance loans since 2003.

    To support our customers, including those people on low or no 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.

    Aotearoa New Zealand

    Since 2014, BNZ has helped people take control of their financial futures. For more information, please visit BNZ’s People and Communities page.

    More information

  • Together with the not-for-profit Fitted for Work, we support eligible jobseeking customers with practical skills, knowledge and connection, so they can move forward with confidence in their careers.

  • We’re helping low-income borrowers access affordable and specialist housing by financing specialist disability accommodation solutions and supporting the NILs loan program to include bond payments and household essentials.

    We’re working closely with government and industry to increase the supply of social, affordable and community housing. This work creates financing conditions that align with the Federal Government’s ambition for 40,000 social and affordable homes by 2029.

  • In October 2025, we have set a Housing Affordability Financing Ambition (HAFA) to provide $60 billion by 2030 to boost housing affordability by 2030. This ambition includes:

    • $30 billion increase commercial real estate development projects where the underlying use is predominantly residential. It also includes financing specialist accommodation, including build to rent, student accommodation and land lease.
    • $30 billion in financing to support first home buyers via the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme.

    This ambition seeks to support both supply and demand challenges in Australia. It could support approximately 55,000 loans for first home buyers and the development of approximately 50,000 new homes.

    For more information on progress against our Housing Affordability Financing Ambition please see NAB’s 2026 Annual Report (PDF, 16MB).

  • Providing comprehensive support to First Nations customers guided by our Reconciliation Action Plan.

    Servicing a dedicated toll-free line for First Nations customers, promoted through a radio campaign in eight traditional First Nations languages across WA, NT, SA and QLD.

    Providing 9,326 no interest loans in FY26 totalling $15 million to First Nations people in partnership with Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand.

    Providing tailored financial solutions in partnership with SEFA (Social Enterprise Finance Australia), including loans to First Nations-owned purpose-driven organisations.

    More information

    • Improving 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 improving and maintaining financial health.
    • Creating online resources to help customers access financial hardship support, external support services and security awareness information.

    • Providing a more inclusive and accessible banking experience through our Accessibility Action Plan, including improvements across branches, ATMs, mobile and internet banking, and customer communications.
    • Supporting disability organisations and businesses to address emerging issues, particularly businesses owned and led by people with disability.
    • Working towards becoming an employer of choice for people with disability, with NAB’s Disability Confident Recruiter accreditation recognising our commitment to inclusive recruitment, disability confidence, workplace accessibility, and retention.
    • Participating in the external Access and Inclusion Index benchmarking, helping us understand our maturity, compare our performance against peers, and identify priority areas for improvement.
    • Maintaining membership of The Valuable 500 and Gold Membership with the Australian Disability Network to support continual improvement and collaboration on disability inclusion.
    • Participating in Australian and global data collection initiatives, implementing best practice, and collaborating with government, corporate and not-for-profit organisations.

    • Blocking abusive messages on NAB Internet Banking and the NAB app.
    • Investigating and acting when unacceptable account conduct is identified or reported.
    • Reasonably exercising rights under account agreements where needed to protect customers from financial abuse, including suspending, cancelling or denying access to a product or feature.
    • Supporting the Australian Banking Association Safe and Savvy guide to help older people and their loved ones detect financial abuse, scams and fraud.
    • Providing support through our specialised Customer Support Hub.

    More information

    • Hardship support for customers impacted by severe natural disasters, including a range of financial relief measures.
    • $1,000 Disaster Relief Grants for eligible customers living in government-declared impacted areas.
    • Helping eligible customers lower their insurance costs and better protect their homes through our partnership with Resilient Building Council (RBC).

    More information

    • Easy English guides, developed with accessible information specialists, to help customers understand available services and products.
    • Interpreter support for customers with limited English or who prefer to speak another language, where an interpreter is available.

    More information

    • Progressively updating application forms, documentation and systems to be more inclusive.
    • Providing a trans and gender diverse banking page with information about changing name, gender and title.

Education resources for bankers and financial counsellors

  • In 2026, NAB Foundation provided a grant to Financial Counselling Australia to support disaster recovery financial counselling training for 59 financial counsellors from communities across Australia, helping build a skilled trauma-informed workforce prepared to support people affected by natural disasters.
  • Mandatory Inclusive Banking training for bankers to better serve customers experiencing vulnerability.
  • Targeted training and education for financial counsellors about hardship support and access to NAB’s Customer Care team.
  • Cyber awareness training covering common scams, warning signs and practical safety advice.

Governance, Advocacy and Partnerships

Board and Executive accountability

Our Board Customer Committee (PDF, 107KB) has oversight on customer management outcomes, seeking to ensure fair products and services. Their focus includes vulnerable customers and customers experiencing financial hardship, as well as managing customer complaints. Our Executive Customer Committee assists the Board Customer Committee in lifting the voice of the customer and embedding a customer-focused culture across NAB.

Inclusive product design

Our Customer Outcomes Framework sets out the principles, standards and outcomes we aspire to deliver for customers. We assess new products and material changes to products and services against the Customer Outcomes Framework and identify high-priority areas to deliver improvements for customers. Senior leaders manage these actions, with oversight from the Board and Executive Customer Committees.

Our Inclusive Product Guidance Tool helps personal banking product managers assess products for inclusion and accessibility features and identify opportunities for improvement.

We regularly monitor current events, trends and harms impacting customers and consider how we can respond and support appropriately. Recent examples include:

  • scams and fraud
  • collaborating with key industry stakeholders to support access to banking services for customers in prison
  • Supporting Australia’s growing migrant population.

How we act on feedback

We recognise that complaint mechanisms must be easy to access and have taken steps to improve access to underserved groups.

  • Our complaints guide is written in ‘Easy English’ and we offer interpreters and access to the National Relay Service for customers who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment.
  • We provide a dedicated toll-free NAB customer service line for First Nations Australians, particularly helping those who live in remote Australia get appropriate help to submit complaints.
  • We operate a specific ‘grievance mechanism’ inbox, to support with human rights-related complaints, and provide guidance in multiple languages. As part of our commitment to putting our customers first, we established the Office of the Customer Advocate (OCA) in 2016. The OCA focuses on independent advocacy and insights to deliver fair outcomes for NAB customers and align with community expectations.

Industry engagement and advocacy

Engaging with peak community and industry stakeholders is central to improving the ways we serve customers experiencing vulnerability.

  • NAB subscribes to the Banking Code of Practice, an industry code (approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission), that provides customers with safeguards and protections not set out in law. This includes commitment to inclusive and accessible banking.
  • We formally and regularly seek the views of consumer advocacy groups, such as financial counsellors and legal aid organisations.
  • We are a member of the Australian Banking Association Consumer Outcomes Group which supports cross industry collaboration on key issues relevant to all banking customers.
  • Providing funding through the launch of the Financial Counselling Industry Fund (FCIF), supporting Australians to access support from financial counsellors.

Partnerships

We partner with:

  • Good Shepherd to serve those at risk of exclusion from mainstream banking services through microfinance initiatives.
  • Social Enterprise Finance Australia (Sefa) to provide tailored finance to purpose-driven organisations, including First Nations enterprises.
  • Way Forward, an Australian registered charity that provides a free service to hundreds of Australians in financial difficulty, helping them to negotiate with creditors and establish a budget alongside a single regular payment, 100% of which goes towards reducing the debt.
  • Thriving Community Partnerships to support our mutual customers through challenging times and build best practice approaches.
  • National and state Australian Financial Counselling conferences to engage with networks, understand key priorities, gather new learning and build insights to improve our processes to better support customers.
  • Telus Health and Uniting CareRing to provide social services support and counselling for customers experiencing vulnerability.

 

Important information