KUALA LUMPUR (March 27): RHB Banking Group became the first local bank to announce that it will not be compounding interest for its retail and small and medium enterprise (SME) customers during the six-month moratorium period that is recently announced by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Two foreign banks here — HSBC and OCBC — have announced this as well recently.
The six-month moratorium will take effect from April 1, 2020. These measures will help to ease the cash flow of individuals and SMEs and will provide the much needed breathing space for customers to re-assess their financial positions, particularly those directly affected by Covid-19, RHB Banking Group said in a statement.
The moratorium will apply automatically to all RHB Bank and RHB Islamic Retail and SME customers, with the exception of loans/financing facilities that are in arrears exceeding 90 days as at April 1, 2020.
For the additional benefits, the bank said interest for all retail and SME banking facilities will not be compounded during the moratorium period and instalment payment amounts will remain unchanged upon the lifting of the moratorium.
For credit card facilities, the group said customers may request to convert the outstanding balances into a three-year term loan with reduced interest rates.
RHB Banking Group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said these additional measures introduced by BNM in partnership with the banking industry provides critical relief to ease the financial burden of individuals and businesses, particularly the SMEs, during this extremely challenging period.
“Further details on the repayment deferment and restructuring has been made available on our corporate website,” he said.
At 10.08am, RHB shares gained 0.4% or 2 sen to RM4.97, valuing the group at RM19.93 billion.
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