Big banks offer business relief

ANZ and Westpac have reintroduced relief measures for business borrowers in the wake of the nationwide level four lockdown.

Thursday, August 26th 2021, 6:00AM

The banks have revived emergency settings for business customers as the nation remains in the midst of a lockdown.

ANZ's managing director of business banking Lorraine Mapu said most business clients were in a good position during the latest crisis.

“The feedback we’re getting from customers is that most are in good shape and are able to weather limited Covid-19 restrictions. However, they are looking at what longer restrictions will mean for their businesses and are making plans for how they will get through.

“We are reintroducing relief measures that we had in place during previous lockdowns so businesses can take advantage of them quickly if they need to.”

The relief measures include access to temporary overdrafts, waivers of loan restructure fees, the ability to extend loan terms or move to interest only, and the waiver of FastPay monthly card reader fees.

The temporary changes came into effect yesterday.

“We’ll be reviewing these measures weekly, taking into account the needs of our customers and government emergency requirements,” Mapu said. “As with any event that disrupts business, careful planning is key to managing the short-term effects, and we’d encourage customers to contact us early so we’re in the best position to help.”

It follows Westpac's decision to offer relief measures late last week.

The big four bank has offered to suspend principal loan payments for three months, defer payments on business credit cards for three months, and provide temporary overdrafts.

Westpac also invited retail customers to contact the bank's hotline.

“We really want to talk to customers who are concerned about their finances, whether it’s household savings or cashflow at their business," Westpac NZ acting chief executive Simon Power said on Friday.

Tags: ANZ