Bank sources said the policy was enacted to reduce red tape for businesses likely to be experiencing hardship and that less than 1 per cent of those "auto-deferred" have opted out thus far.

Mike Vacy-Lyle, group executive of CBA's business and private bank, said the bank was now extending the holiday package to SMEs with up to $10 million in loans, on an opt-in basis.

"Over the last fortnight we have announced a number of measures to support our small business customers through this very challenging period," Mr Vacy-Lyle told The Australian Financial Review.

"It has also become apparent that medium-sized and larger businesses will also need significant support. By extending our support, we’ll help more businesses stay afloat."

General hardship

ANZ has received inquiries around 50,000 mortgage customers seeking to defer home loan repayments, and around 20,000 requests from small business customers.

A total of 53,000 NAB customers have completed online forms requesting home or business loan support or making an application for general hardship.

It is understood there have been more than 2000 requests relating to NAB's business support loan of up to $250,000, launched by the bank earlier this week in response to the federal government's SME loan guarantee scheme.


The updated figures follow those revealed by newly crowned Westpac chief executive Peter King to the Financial Review on Thursday. The bank has received 100,000 inquiries from individual customers and 26,000 requests from small businesses seeking financial assistance.

In a note to clients, Evans & Partners analyst Matthew Wilson pointed out that the 100,000 figure amounted to 8 per cent of Westpac's total mortgage customer base, after adjusting for loan splitting.

Dividends and bad debts

On his first full day in the job, Mr King said a decision on Westpac dividends would be unveiled at the half-year results in May.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's shock decision ordering the Australian big four banks — which dominate the country's financial services market — to suspend dividends payments had sparked fears that domestic dividends could come under pressure.

“In relation to Westpac and our dividends, that is a decision we will make in May and it is one of a number of important decisions we will make,” Mr King told the public broadcaster on Friday.

“If the regulators and government decided it was best for the country then obviously we would need to follow that advice.”


Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday the government was not considering instructing the banks to freeze dividends "at this point" and an APRA official said it was a matter for boards.

Mr King said any decision to suspend its dividend payments would need to strike a balance between the interests of "self-funded retirees who live off the dividend and the strength of the balance sheet".

Given the past behaviour of the big banks to prioritise loan customers over depositors in passing on interest rate cuts, Mr Wilson said Westpac was likely to ultimately side with the latter in weighing up that decision.

"Economics will win here. Capital preservation to lend and absorb bad debts is more important to the bank," he said.

The CEO said that current estimates indicate the bank would be able to absorb the costs of bad debts without seeking assistance from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

“If we do have people that can’t pay back loans we will need to use [our capital] buffer, but we have spent the last decade building it, and at this point we think we can handle it.”

NAB and ANZ both declined to comment on dividends, echoing APRA in explaining it is a decision for the board.

However, they will hold their half-yearly results briefings in May and late April respectively and a dividend announcement, were there to be one, could reasonably be expected at that time. Bad debt numbers would also ordinarily be released at the half-year.

CBA also declined to comment further on dividends, directing the Financial Review to the bank's statement to the ASX on Thursday explaining its tier one capital ratio would allow it to "absorb" the New Zealand regulation.

But CBA sources said the bank had a "longer tail" to make a decision on dividends to examine the ongoing economic fallout of the health crisis, since it is not due to release half-year results until August.