First National Bank Ghana has introduced a relief program for its customers dubbed ‘RealHelp’ in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Customers of the bank have been offered at least a 2% interest rate cut on existing loans.
The offer commences from April 1, 2020 for the tenor of all Ghana-cedi denominated loan facilities.
In a press release, CEO of First National Bank Ghana, Richard Hudson, explained the new change.
“All cedi denominated loans at First National Bank Ghana Limited are linked to the Ghana Reference Rate (GRR) which is
published monthly on the first Wednesday of every month.
“Loans to customers are quoted at the
GRR plus a margin. With the recently announced drop in the MPC rate, the GRR dropped by 1.20% and the bank then slashed its margin by a further 1% across all cedi related loans, bringing the total
reduction to 2.20%”
Additionally, customers of the bank have been given an option to apply for repayment holidays, “where a temporary
moratorium will be placed on the loan repayments for up to six months. This is expected to give customers some leeway to reorganise their finances which may be negatively affected by the
economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic”
Customers have been encouraged to apply for the repayment holiday on
the First National Bank app or by using the quick code *877# on its Cellphone Banking platform.
