This week in banking - NSW commits $440m in rental relief and 5 other things you don't want to miss!

• Coronavirus rental relief: NSW Government commits $440 million 
• ASIC loosens the leash on giving financial advice around early super release
• What to refinance your home loan? Find out if you can during COVID-19
• Australian unemployment jumping to highest point in almost 30 years 
• Coronavirus and income protection, what’s changed? 
• Roy Morgan: 10% of Aussies using Apple, Google and Samsung Pay 

All in this week’s banking recap.

NSW Government announces $440m for Coronavirus rental relief package

This week, the NSW Government announced it will give $440m in the form of a rental relief package for those affected by COVID-19. 

The package is designed for both landlords and tenants and is split evenly between residential and commercial leases. 

For residential properties, this new initiative will help keep tenants in their rental homes and thus help owners continue to pay down their mortgages. 

The other half of the funds will help business tenants (who qualify for the new JobKeeper scheme) pay rent, and assist commercial landlords in a similar way.  

Read full article: NSW Government commits $440 million to rental relief during COVID-19 for an in-depth exploration of what it does for landlords, tenants and businesses. 

Government's early super release scheme: ASIC eases restrictions on financial advice 

Regulatory body, ASIC has loosened restrictions when it comes to giving financial advice around the Government’s early super release scheme. 

The new measures mean that tax agents, accountants and financial advisers will no longer face restrictions they usually would when giving such advice. 

For example, after discussing the early super release scheme, financial advisors won’t be required to provide a statement of advice (SOA) to their clients. 

And for tax agents, they don’t need to hold an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence to advise existing clients about the scheme. 

Read full article: ASIC eases restrictions on financial advice around early super release for the nitty gritty of what the changes mean. 

Could a pandemic be the right time to refinance your mortgage?

With the outbreak of COVID-19, many Aussies are feeling the financial pinch of their regular mortgage bills now more than ever. 

While generally speaking any time to refinance is a good time, if you are facing job loss or cuts to your wage as a result of the coronavirus, your chances of being approved are less likely. 

Mozo Property Expert, Steve Jovcevski says that certain job types and industries are being “blacklisted” by home loan lenders. 

For example, this week ING tightened it’s lending restrictions by excluding new customers that rely on casual or contractor work for their primary source of income. 

Read full article: Can I refinance my home loan during Coronavirus? to find out what else Steve Jovcevski says about refinancing during the pandemic. 

Treasury reveals unemployment set to hit highest levels in almost three decades 

Unemployment is on the rise and the Treasury has predicted it’s not slowing down any time soon. 

It expects that Australian unemployment will hike from 5.1% to, almost double, 10% in the June quarter. 

In February of this year, 700,000 Aussies were on the hunt for a job but if the unemployment rate jumps up to 10%, that would put 1.4 million people out of work. 

These predictions would leave Australia at the highest unemployment rate since 1994, and the Treasury says that if it weren’t for the Government’s new JobKeeper scheme, the rate would be 15%.  

Read full article: Unemployment to reach highest levels in almost three decades, says Treasury for more on what the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg had to say about the stats. 

Want to take out income protection? Here’s some changes you should know about

If you have been on the hunt for an income protection policy, you may want to familiarise yourself with the changes that happened at the end of last month. 

As of the 31 March 2020, Australian insurers no longer offer ‘Agreed Value Income Protection’ policies - which use your income at the time of application as the basis to assess the amount payable for claims later on. 

While the adjustment was first suggested to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) at the end of 2019, it has now come to fruition to protect insurers from ongoing losses as a result of these products. 

Instead, insurers will now offer ‘Indemnity based Income Protection’ which uses your income of the last 12 months before the claim to assess how much you'll get paid.   

Read full article: A change to income protection insurance you may have missed to check out how the new measures will impact existing policies. 

Digital wallets on the rise as Apple, Google and Samsung Pay use hits 10%

Last month, Roy Morgan’s Digital Payments Report revealed that digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are being used by almost 10% of Aussies. 

The numbers showed that 9.8% of consumers reach for their phones rather than their wallet to tap and go, up from 6.8% this time last year. 

Amongst the digital wallet offerings, Apple Pay remained the strongest at 5.9% (up from 4%), followed by Google Pay at 3.9% (up from 3.1%) and then Samsung Pay at 1% (no change from last year). 

Read full article: Apple, Google and Samsung Pay adoption hits 10% in Australia: Roy Morgan to check out which banks are getting on board the digital wallet trend. 

Want to check out some debit card options to add to your digital wallet? Take a look at the table below!