Growing up in a large family of Maltese immigrants meant Joseph Seychell shared more than just first and last names with many of his close relatives in Melbourne.
Whenever anyone in the family needed help, grandmother and matriarch Josephine made sure the problem was solved collectively, often with real financial support kicked in.
“I really watched how the family bonded together,” Seychell says today as a senior banking executive working to help customers in financial hardship.
“As individuals we all have our troubles, but as a large European family any problem in the family is everybody’s problem. Whether it was my uncles, aunts, nephews, we were all there to help each other.”
Seychell brings this same philosophy to his work as general manager of the NAB Assist team, changing the focus to provide options for those who genuinely need help.
In the past three years, the team has assisted more than 48,000 customers to transition through rough patches, most often resulting from illness, job loss or separation.
Seychell likens what his team does to roadside assistance: sometimes the customer just has a minor problem like a flat tyre, which can be easily fixed to get them back on the road; for others the whole engine has gone and it’s time to rethink the transport plan altogether.
“Sometimes the conversation we have helps the customer understand their circumstances have changed so they can get to the point where they can move on,” he says. “When you hear someone’s emotions on the phone the exchange transcends from being ‘a job’.”
In 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed that about 19% of Australians faced financial stress. NAB Assist was developed against this backdrop to help customers who were enduring, or at risk of, financial hardship.
The team is trained in advising clients on payment plans, connecting them to financial assistance, as well as prioritising critical payments to reduce risk of default or triggering further financial hardship. The NAB Assist team also receive training to help them recognise when a customer needs a referral to a specialist service such as Lifeline or Financial Counselling.
As a result, despite some of the “very difficult conversations” the work involves, the department can report some of the highest levels of customer satisfaction in the NAB community.
Seychell says one woman thanked him even after she realised the family would have to sell their home to move on.
“We helped the customer understand and take control of the situation,” he says. “She realised the right thing to do was sell and asked us to help. It clicked that we were part of the solution.
“She said: ‘Thank you, our family is now a family again and looking forward to what we are going to do tomorrow.’”
Seychell stresses that when all other options have been exhausted, usually after a two-year process of counselling and consultation, the team assists with whatever needs to be done to help the customer, from help with moving costs to finding rental accommodation.
“This is about getting to the humanistic side of banking,” Seychell says. “Life doesn’t always pan out the way we expect. We are all just one phone call away from our life being turned upside down.”
For success in the role Seychell draws on a background in corporate finance, having trained at Melbourne University and RMIT before starting out in the industry with a focus on risk management. He has also had the opportunity to see firsthand how models of banking work in the developing world.
“This job gives you the opportunity to make a real difference in someone’s life. And you know that on the next call you really need to be on top of your game.”
The bank’s head of corporate responsibility strategy, Sasha Courville, says NAB Assist helps the community and the business grow together.
“The goal is to support people in hardship and get them back on their feet,” she says. “We want to make sure people are healthy and productive and resilient because that’s good for everybody.”
