Republic Bank defers loan repayment due to COVID-19

In its quest to mitigate the economic impact of the novel Coronavirus pandemic on businesses and staff, The Republic Bank Ghana, has announced an offer of Loan Repayment Deferment for its customers and staff for a period of six months.

This comes after the Bank of Ghana in a series of actions urged all financial institutions operating in the country to take adequate steps to help curtail the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19.

Ghana has already recorded 132 cases with three deaths and one recovery.

According to the Managing Director of the Bank, Farid Antar, Republic Bank recognizes the economic effect of social distancing which has become essential to stem the spread of the virus.

“As a Bank with a heart, we recognize that these are critical times for everyone, with an expected high pressure on cash flows for both individuals and businesses. We have therefore taken a bold decision to offer a loan payment deferment option to our Customers and Staff. This we believe will cushion their cash flows in order to support them to take all precautionary measures needed to protect their families and themselves from the spread of the virus,” he noted.

The Loan Repayment Deferment offer which is available from the 27th of March 2020, is currently available upon request as customers can apply for the offer by contacting their respective Branch and Corporate Managers or Relationship Officers.

In addition, the Bank has also introduced automatic waivers until 30th June, 2020 on the excess fees and late fees on loan repayments.

The management of the bank also advised the general public to limit the use of their banking halls, and make use of their various digital platforms as part of adhering to all precautionary measures, and protect themselves and families against the coronavirus.

“Customers of the Bank limit the use of the Banking Halls and instead, utilize the digital channels (internet banking, mobile money push and pull, *414#) or conveniently located Blue Machines (ATMs) for their banking transactions as part of the social distancing measures,” he added.

Ghana’s new cases are mostly from travelers who were put under mandatory quarantine and subjected to mandatory testing.