Banks give customers bligh on payments, interest rates

Stephen Bagnarol, Scotiabank senior vice president and managing director. - Angelo Marcelle
Stephen Bagnarol, Scotiabank senior vice president and managing director. - Angelo Marcelle

Following Government’s announcements Wednesday of measures to mitigate the economic impact of its covid19 precautions, commercial banks have responded with their policies to assist clients. Scotiabank will be putting measures in place from next week to stall its customers’ loan payments automatically for a period of three months, with the possibility of three months more.

In a release on Wednesday, the bank said it will launch a Customer Assistance Programme (CAP) for customers affected by the covid19 pandemic. The suspension covers loan payments including mortgages, personal loans, credit cards and lines of credit, including for small business customers. Customers who want to opt-out of the programme can continue to pay their loans as they always have and those who want to discuss refinancing options can call 62-SCOTIA. The programme will assist retail customers and payments for secured and unsecured loans may be deferred until September. Loan fees and penalties for late payments will be waived on customer assistance facilities.

No processing fees will be applied to loans extended for working capital support for businesses affected by covid19 for retail, small business and business banking customers, although no payments may be due during the payment deferral period, interest will continue to accrue and will be payable at a later point in the loan’s cycle.

Scotiabank will also be offering support to corporate and commercial customers impacted by the virus across various industries to maintain operations, as well as temporary principal payment relief on term loans of up to six months, with a corresponding extension on the loan, increased working capital lines of credit to cover payments and other business expenses and no loan feed for working capital. These offers will be subject to applicable terms and conditions and requests will be assessed on an individual basis. In a release Wednesday, RBC Royal Bank said effective immediately, most RBC personal banking clients in the Caribbean will benefit from an automatic three-month payment deferral on credit facilities. Business and corporate banking clients are also eligible pending assessment. Automatic payment deferrals will be applied as of March 17 and remain in effect until June 30, or until further advised.

To be eligible for the program, client accounts must be current and in good standing as of March 2. Clients who are already participating in RBC relief programmes for other circumstances are excluded. First Citizens has not yet announced its loan deferral policy but has advised, via a media release on Thursday, that it will reduce its prime lending rate by two per cent, to 7.5 per cent. CIBC First Caribbean is offering a six-month payment moratorium on existing loans and mortgages, as well as temporary revolving or working capital financing options for corporate and business banking clients.

Republic Bank, the country’s largest commercial bank, announced Wednesday that a moratorium will be applied to all loans, including mortgages, for up to six months. The service will be automatically made on request. Other actions the bank will take include debt restructuring, considered case by case and a temporary increase of overdraft and credit card limits. Automatic waivers will apply for the next six months on credit card late fees and over limit fees, effective March 20; overdrawn account fees; late fees on loan repayments. There will be no penalties for early withdrawal of certificates of deposit accounts. For small and medium enterprise, commercial and corporate customers, there will be a temporary increase of overdraft and credit card limits; reduction in the merchant commission fee by up to one per cent; waivers on overdrawn account feed and late fees on loan repayments. Monthly credit card interest rates will be reduced from two per cent to 1.75 per cent, effective March 21.

The prime lending rate will be reduced by 2.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent, effective March 23. To be eligible for moratoria and waivers, customers must be in good standing.

Comments

"Banks give customers bligh on payments, interest rates"

More in this section