Generosity from public donations continues to flow to drought-stressed rural Australia.
Customers with Commonwealth Bank of Australia have rallied together to show their support for drought affected farming communities, donating over $1 million in just 40 hours through CBA’s CommBank app.
An additional $750,000 has been donated over the counter at CBA branches.
With a severe drought gripping the nation, its farmers and regional communities, CBA has launched CANGive, a new digital tool in the CommBank app which gives customers the opportunity to make donations to Australian Red Cross’ Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal.
It is the first time customers have been able to donate digitally to a fundraising appeal via their mobile phone and tablet.
CBA’s executive general manager of Digital, Pete Steel, said the bank was been overwhelmed by the generosity of customers recognising the growing need to get behind the Australian farmers, their families and communities affected by severe drought.
“In addition to the $2m commitment we’ve made, we are proud that our customers are also backing rural Australia in this time of need by donating a further $1m digitally via our app.
This collective support will make a real difference for Australian farmers and their communities.
All funds raised through our branches and the CommBank app will be given to Australian Red Cross’ Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal.
CBA’s support for drought-affected farming communities now involves collecting donations at CBA branches or via the CANGive CommBank app; $1.75m from the bank to the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal; $250,000 donated to Rural Aid’s Buy a Bale program; support for farmers with a credit adjustment for customers with eligible Farm Management Deposits and business loans, and a hold on default interest rates on business term loans for customers in financial difficulty caused by the drought.