Repayment assistance in excess of RM15.2 billion
AmBank has stepped up its ongoing efforts in providing relief to customers, both individuals and SMEs who are affected by the movement control order (MCO) that was recently re-implemented as part of the nation’s efforts to fend off the global COVID-19 pandemic.
AmBank’s efforts are in line with the Government’s Targeted Repayment Assistance initiative, which was announced under the Pemerkasa Plus financial aid package.
Dato’ Sulaiman Mohd Tahir, Group Chief Executive Officer, AmBank Group, said “We welcome the Government’s call for Banks to provide further assistance to those who are severely impacted by the pandemic. AmBank will continue to assist customers through the Repayment Assistance packages and the rescheduling and restructuring plans that meet their respective needs.”
“To this end, as at 31 March 2021, we have extended approximately RM15.2 billion in repayment assistance for loans and financing for all customer segments and have approved close to 100% of these applications. We aim to extend this service further, up to 31 December 2021 and are also conscious of the need to review the potential of granting further extensions, if need be, in light of MCO 3.0.”
AmBank will be proactively engaging with customers via Relationship Managers to extend their trade bills by one cycle in order to further cushion the impact to cash flow.
“We would like to urge customers to reach out to us to discuss repayment assistance and at the same time, the Bank will also continue to engage with our customers especially those in the affected industries,” added Dato’ Sulaiman.
The Repayment Assistance will be extended to all AmBank customers who have experienced loss of employment, B40 who are recipients of the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) or Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) and any microenterprise (with approved loan/financing facilities of less than RM150,000) as well as SMEs and microenterprises that are not allowed to operate during the MCO (locked-down sectors), with the choice of a payment deferment for three months or a reduction of monthly instalments by 50% for a period of six months.
In addition to this, all individual loan / financing customers who have suffered a reduction in income will be offered a lower monthly instalment payment plan, which corresponds with the reduction in their income.
For customers who are not eligible for any of the abovementioned schemes or would require other forms of assistance, the Bank is also providing repayment assistance which suits the financial needs and circumstances of these customers, as part of its initiative to help alleviate the financial burden of customers in need.
Throughout the MCO period, we would like to encourage our customers to utilise our digital banking platform, AmOnline for individuals and AmAccessBiz for SMEs. We will continue to serve our customers at branches and via our digital platforms as well as ATMs nationwide, which are available 24/7.
We would also like to extend our gratitude and appreciation for the tireless hard work and dedication of our frontliners from medical professionals to other service providers who are leading the fight against COVID-19. We also pray for the speedy recovery of all COVID-19 patients.
In addition, AmBank would also like to take this opportunity to encourage all Malaysians to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine, if you have not done so already.