Bankinter to pay customers’ pensions early to help mitigate the impact of coronavirus on families’ finances
The bank is immediately initiating processes to pay pensions tomorrow, 25 March, five days before the regular pay date.
Bankinter is taking new measures to help certain companies, such as grace periods on loans and reverse factoring post-financing, as well as grace periods and term extensions on leases to SMEs and sole traders.
Bankinter is taking further action in its shock plan to help customers (households and companies) in order to assuage the effects of the current environment caused by COVID-19 on the economy. The bank will pay its its customers’ pensions five days in advance, on 25 March.
Under normal circumstances, the bank pays pensions on the second-to-last day of each month. But due to the special coronavirus situation, the bank run by María Dolores Dancausa, has decided to pay this advance to elderly customers to help provide households with a normal flow of money.
Bankinter has immediately implemented the necessary procedures to make this advance tomorrow.
The bank is also taking new measures as of today, and giving credit facilities to companies particularly hit by the current situation. These measures include grace periods on loans for certain customers as well as reverse factoring post-financing (in order to finance invoice payments once they become due) and grace periods and term extensions on leases for SMEs and sole traders.
These measures are part of others announced by the bank on Friday, like the option for companies to use pre-approved loans (intended to pay taxes and social security) for any purpose; or the option for companies to increase or reset unused limits of their multi-line financing, a product to combine all funding needs in a single credit line.
The bank has also adhered to the new ICO-COVID19 funding line for tourism, transport and cultural entities, which involves a loan under preferential conditions and with a fixed interest rate of 1.5% (including fees), as well as a maximum term of four years, with a grace period on the principal during the first year. Furthermore, the bank is giving access to ICO (Spanish Official Credit Institute) loans through a line of public guarantees of up to 100 billion euros, in accordance with the Royal Decree.
Moratorium on mortgage payments.
For retail customers, the bank is finishing up a programme of measures to grant credit facilities and relax payments, with grace periods and term extensions for customers going through hard times during this crisis.
Furthermore, branches and remote managers are already providing information on procedures and documents required to obtain a moratorium on mortgage payments for primary residences, in accordance with the Royal Decree-Law approved by the government for people with reduced incomes due to this crisis and who meet certain requirements. Affected customers have until 15 days after the Royal Decree expires to apply for this moratorium. The bank will process it in 15 days once all required documents have been submitted.