Westpac is going to relax its policy on access to banking services for people declared bankrupt.
A 2022 survey undertaken by the Insolvency and Trustee Service found 49 percent of respondents faced bank account closures after being declared bankrupt, while 22 percent had difficulty finding a new bank or credit union.
Westpac is changing its policy so that customers made bankrupt will be able to continue to operate transactional accounts, open new transactional or savings accounts and retain or apply for a debit card.
It said evidence showed many declared bankrupt had their bank accounts closed and struggled to get…