Standard Bank announces financial relief measures for customers amid COVID-19 in South Africa
The Standard Bank has announced interim debt repayment measures to help segments of its customer base to navigate their financial commitments as COVID-19 cases continue to increase across the country.
The payment relief for the bank’s small enterprise customers with turnover of less than R20 million, will commence on 1 April 2020 and run through to end June 2020. Standard Bank will set up automatic new payment terms for these small business owners. This measure will not only assist our small business clients with managing their cash flows, but also allow them to honour payments to their own employee base.
“The relief will come from capitalising the interest and fees typically paid to the bank each month and changing the terms of repayment to a later date”, explained Standard Bank South Africa Chief Executive, Lungisa Fuzile. “This, we hope, will relieve cash flow constraints currently caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.”
In addition, all student customers still studying full time with a Standard Bank Student Loan will receive a payment holiday over the same period at 0% interest and with zero fees.
The payment holiday for small enterprise and student customers is an automatic offer that requires no action from customers, except if they want to opt out.
All other customers are requested to contact the bank to indicate their circumstances. Assistance from Standard Bank will also include options to defer payment for an agreed period and the opportunity to restructure and consolidate the overall debt.
“It is our responsibility to ensure we look at solutions to assist our customers during this challenging economic period, and we continue to work closely with the South African Reserve Bank to find ways to partner in the best interests of all our stakeholders,” concludes Fuzile.
“It is our responsibility to ensure we look at solutions to assist our customers during this challenging economic period, and we continue to work closely with the South African Reserve Bank to find ways to partner in the best interests of all our stakeholders,” concludes Fuzile.
