Rest Completes Early Release Payments

Industry superannuation fund Rest had paid 123,022 members $886.5 million as part of the Government’s temporary early release of super scheme as at 10am Tuesday, 12 May.
 
There are a further 9,226 applications worth $63.9 million currently being processed and the vast majority are expected to be completed within a five-day period.
 
This means that about 96 per cent of all applications received so far have either been completed already or will be completed within the coming five business days.
 
The money will reach our members depending on how quickly their bank or credit union can process the payment. 
 
In total, Rest had received 137,177 applications from the ATO at combined value of $976.4 million.
 
“The number of new applications coming in every day has significantly declined since the opening few days of the scheme,” said Rest CEO Vicki Doyle.
 
“At the end of the first week of the scheme, we had received around 65,000 applications. By the end of week two, we received about 40,000 applications. Last week, we had received about 26,000 applications before the ATO paused the scheme on Friday.
 
“Even with these reducing volumes, we are still paying an average of 10,000 applications or $74 million per business day.”
 
There are currently 2312 applications that are currently undergoing extra verification as part of the processes Rest has in place to keep members’ money safe from fraud and money laundering.
 
These flagged applications represent less than two per cent of total applications received so far.
 
“We continue to work closely with our administrator AAS to review and finalise these applications in the shortest-possible time to protect our members’ money,” said Ms Doyle.
 
“The ATO resumed sending applications to super funds yesterday after pausing last Friday. They will now be taking an extra day to complete additional security checks before sending approved applications to funds.
 
“While this will lead to the whole process taking slightly longer, we support any steps taken to make the process more secure for our members.”
 
The remaining 2,617 applications received to date were invalid and have been returned to the ATO.
 
Rest remains comfortably placed to meet payment requests to members should they increase in the future. The fund is also well placed to pursue value on behalf our members in investment markets, whether it be in shares, unlisted assets like property and infrastructure, or other asset classes.

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