The banking sector offers deferments for clients affected by the coronavirus crisis

The credit institutions integrated in the AEB and CECA join together and voluntarily implement a new measure to assist clients economically affected by the coronavirus crisis.

This involves a deferment of up to twelve months in the capital repayment for those individuals economically impacted by the situation generated by COVID-19 who have a mortgage on their primary residence and request it. Additionally, the principal payment on personal loans linked to consumption is deferred for a period of up to six months.

This means that clients will only pay the corresponding interests on these loans, substantially reducing the amount they have been paying until now.

This sectoral initiative is additional and complementary to the measures announced by the Government so far and demonstrates the firm commitment of banks to support and contribute to helping families affected by the crisis overcome this difficult situation.

The new measure entails that clients who request it will only be responsible for paying the interest on the loan, deferring the repayment of the principal. This reduces the amount they will pay monthly during this period and allows them to face the situation with greater liquidity. The deferment would be implemented, depending on the cases and at the discretion of the institution, through a personal loan, a modification of the mortgage loan, or another financially equivalent formula.

Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, banks have been dedicated to assisting their clients with voluntary measures and contributing to the recovery from the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. All together, and individually, they have announced various solutions to help those who are suffering the most and have expressed their willingness to collaborate with the measures adopted by the Government to mitigate the economic effects of this situation. Therefore, the measure announced today is voluntarily undertaken by each institution, without prejudice to other support measures for the same purpose that each one may offer to its clients.

The boards of AEB and CECA will approve the sectoral agreement in the coming days, which will formalize this initiative and detail its conditions and procedural aspects.