Cape Town - Standard Bank has announced a second wave of relief to help its customers navigate financial commitments as Covid-19 continues to impact South Africans.
"The payment reprieve is aimed at easing the financial burden of customers earning R7 500 or less, who will receive three-month instalment relief if they are not in arrears on any of their accounts (as at 31 March 2020)," Standard Bank said on a statement on Sunday.
"This relief applies to qualifying customers and their associated accounts, which include home loan, vehicle and asset finance, credit cards as well as short term loans. Customers who opt for the relief will see their interest and bank charges capitalised over the term of their loan agreements."
This second round of relief comes after Standard Bank’s announcement last week that it would be instituting instalment relief for both SMEs and full-time students who have taken out loans at the bank.
The bank’s small enterprise clients with a turnover of less than R20 million were granted a three-month instalment relief on their business loan repayments. The latest instalment relief measure will further assist business owners who bank with Standard Bank in their personal and business capacity.
"The three-month instalment relief will be available on 1 April 2020 until end June 2020. Customers need not contact the bank to initiate the offer, however, customers can continue to pay their accounts as usual should they not want to take up on the relief offer made by Standard Bank," the bank said.
Customers who are in financial distress and not included in the three-month instalment relief offer, can contact the bank by email on [email protected] or call them.
Funeka Montjane, Chief Executive, Personal and Business Banking, Standard Bank South Africa, says: “At Standard Bank, we are continuously looking for ways to provide the necessary assistance to our customers who have been impacted negatively by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Standard Bank is collaborating with other government initiatives that have been started to support small businesses and their employees. Qualifying employers and employees will also get relief from initiatives like the Solidarity Fund.
“We are committed to helping those who are vulnerable at this time. It is critical that we try to ease their financial burden and do what we can to prevent somebody from losing their home or having to close their business. We continue to work with the industry and regulators to ensure that we can solve some challenges systemically and we will play our part responsibly to support government and the country,” said Montjane.
Furthermore, the banking sector has collectively decided to waive Saswitch fees during the lockdown. This means that a customer can use any ATM, including those offered by competing banks and only pay the usual fees charged.
“We will work tirelessly to find solutions that ease their financial burden in these times. We are here to help those who contribute to our society so that we can support economic growth in South Africa,” concluded Montjane.