FNB and WesBank approve payment breaks on more than 500 000 agreements for customers affected by COVID-19

South Africa’s major banking institution FNB and WesBank have approved payment breaks on more than 500 000 credit agreements for nearly 150 000 individual and business customers since 1 April 2020. The relief includes payment breaks and/or credit insurance assistance in excess of R4.3 billion to help customers whose finances have been affected by COVID-19.

“Our approach is to offer qualifying customers a payment break by paying installments on their behalf for a period of three months. As a result, we have structured our assistance at prime interest rates to alleviate the financial burden and give customers the flexibility to repay the facility over flexible terms. Similarly, we continue to scale our support for businesses to help them manage the immediate impact of the lockdown. We will also support businesses beyond the lockdown through the COVID-19 Loan Scheme that was recently announced by the Government”, said Jacques Celliers, FNB Chief Executive Officer.

Chris De Kock, Chief Executive of WesBank, said they have received a significant uptake from their customers on our COVID-19 payment relief options to dull the impact of the crisis.

“We have provided relief to customers impacting instalments to the value of R951 million. Qualifying customers have either been granted moratorium and a contract extension or if they bank with FNB, a payment break through the bank’s COVID-19 application process, both options are available to a maximum period of three months.