The Banking Association of South Africa (Basa) has outlined the financial relief measures currently offered by its members, as well as the limitations attached to them.
The country’s banks have cash flow relief worth R7.74 billion including payment breaks to individual customers for the period from 16 March 2020 to 25 April 2020. They have provided similar relief to commercial, small and medium enterprises worth R7.29 billion, it said.
Over 1,200,000 individuals have applied for some form of relief and over 852,000 have already received assistance. 90,000 commercial, small and medium enterprises have applied for some form of relief and over 75,000 have already received assistance. These numbers are likely to increase significantly over the coming period as more relief is approved.
Options available.
Relief measures may differ between banks, but are available to customers in good standing (A customer is considered to be in good standing if they are up to date with their payments on 29 February 2020 and have a good track record of paying their debts on time), who cannot meet their credit agreement payments in the short-term as a result of the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic and national lockdown.
Relief remedies offered by the banks for those in financial distress may include:
Assistance with processing credit life insurance claims.
Installment reductions for a limited period. ;
A payment break. Interest and fees on the respective loans will still accumulate and will have to be paid by the customer.
Customers who are under debt review are encouraged to contact their debt counselor.
Small businesses that are already in business rescue should contact their Business Rescue Practitioner (BRP). Banks will deal with these enterprises case-by-case
“Banks understand that the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown has increased the financial stress of many of their customers through no fault of their own, and are working hard to provide customers with support in this difficult time,” Basa said
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