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There are few people in Australia who remain unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a health crisis that has evolved to become an economic crisis as well, it continues to evolve further every day – and has “fundamentally changed business forever, in some ways”, says Chris Thomas, NAB’s general manager, commercial.
“Normal will be a ‘new normal’ going forward, and I don’t think it will be a short-term economic shock; we will have to rebuild. But first things first – our top priority is to get everyone healthy and safe, and then to start to rebuild and get back to a level of normal,” Thomas says.
“NAB is here for the broker partners we support and our customers, and we’re really keen to keep working together through this, and we’re confident that together we can find that future together. I can’t state enough the amazing resilience and the strength of the Australian business community and Australians in general when it comes to finding ways through – it should never be underestimated.”
Being Australia’s largest business bank, with customers in all industries and “really strong relationships in the broker channel”, Thomas says NAB is well positioned to support both brokers and customers on the road ahead, which is going to be a difficult one.
“The business environment is going to be quite challenging for some time. It’s hard to predict the length and the depth of it, and the anxiety that comes up around that is justified. But on the positive side, there is also a lot of support on the table. The government, regulators, banks, brokers and aggregators are all working together, and it does provide for real hope that our financial system will continue to support the many customers we service,” he says.
“Our broker community are really good at staying close to their customers and having these conversations around how they can communicate with their stakeholders and suppliers, including banks, and work through this.”
As quickly as this crisis has unfolded, the government has responded, which is no small feat considering the wide number of unknowns and variables at play.
A raft of measures are now available to both individuals and small businesses, which are not just about keeping the economy going; they’re also about providing reassurance and confidence in our financial system, Thomas explains.
Chris Thomas, general manager, commercial, NAB
“Health and wellbeing is on everyone’s mind, and for us, we’re really focused on the health and wellbeing of our people and our customers. We’re also very keen to keep a real focus on our financial system and how that is serving our community,” Thomas explains.
“Wellbeing and caring for each other is where the compass points right now, and that’s where everyone is putting their maximum effort. This affects everyone and all geographies, and this is just the beginning. We’ll have to continue to work together through the health crisis and beyond it. But this will pass – we will get through it.”
Importantly, in these early weeks and months of the pandemic’s impact, it’s essential to recognise the opportunities amid the chaos. In the banking and business world, these include the advanced take-up of technology that enables us to interact and communicate virtually and using digital platforms.
These changes, Thomas says, are going to be here to stay.
“I’d say that every week we are gaining a year in advancement in terms of the different ways of working. Technology has presented options for businesses over the last decade that have really only been gradually taken up, and this pandemic has sped up the adoption, because embracing this tech is not a ‘nice to have’ any more – it’s become a pure necessity,” he says.
“There have always been questions around how brokers interact with customers: does it need to be face-to-face or can it be done virtually? It’s proven now that it can be done virtually, as there is still a lot of business to be done, despite the health crisis. When you have government sanctions and social distancing, we need to find those ways to ID customers, for instance. We’re moving quickly towards solutions that will allow our brokers to complete ID checks virtually, when in the past we would have sought face-to-face connectively.”
A more digitised way of doing business, including employees working remotely and using digital methods to process paperwork (such as DocuSign), is “the potential future we all aspire to”, he adds.
“This evolution doesn’t remove the value of the relationships we develop with people; in fact, it enhances it,” Thomas says.“It goes to fundamentals of business and how business is done. Soon, may we hope, people can once again meet up physically, and that holds enormous value too – walking the floor and seeing a customer’s business allows quite meaningful conversations to unfold. But the next stage of business will also be about ensuring that things like the processing of loans end-to-end can operate equally as efficiently, if not more efficiently, with digital solutions.”
“We’ve always had a clear focus around supporting our customers when their financial needs arise, and there’s no bigger need than to help them through this difficult time right now”
Being well capitalised and ready to play a “critical role” in the global crisis, NAB is working closely with the government and regulators on other necessary measures to support Australians and make sure credit keeps flowing.
During a time of such change, Thomas says the bank aims to support both Australian SMEs and its broker partners in delivering consistency of service.
This is something he says NAB has always strived to deliver during challenging times of drought, bushfires, floods – and now, a health pandemic.
“We’ve always had a clear focus around supporting our customers when their financial needs arise, and there’s no bigger need than to help them through this difficult time right now,” Thomas explains.
“We rely on the fact that we’ve been in business for 160 years and, as evidenced in recent times, as the largest agribank in Australia. We know the terrible drought conditions our farmers have been facing, and the bushfires and floods – and we’ve supported our customers through all of these. Similarly, in this instance we feel well placed to support even more of our customers going forward.”
At the heart of it all is the “fact that Australians always bounce back”, Thomas adds.
“I’ve been in banking 33 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this – the pace at which this has unfolded has been confronting, and it is very hard to find parallels with the past. But the way in which everyone has responded has reflected the need for swift action,” he says.
“These new ways of working and new ways of doing business beyond this point will continue to evolve – there’s already green shoots appearing. We are at our best in a crisis. This is a health crisis that is turning into an economic crisis, and the spirit of entrepreneurialism in Australia is that you find a way forward.”
