New measures for Personal Banking customers
Barclays UK is announcing two new measures to help customers manage their money through these challenging times:
Overdrafts: Waiving all interest from 27th March until the end of April 2020, meaning no charges for customers to use their agreed overdraft.
Customers don’t need to call us to set this up, interest will automatically be removed from 27 March 2020.
Mortgages: Speeding up the mortgage payment holiday application for customers in financial difficulty with a new, easy to use, online form.
Customers can complete the form online https://www.barclays.co.uk/coronavirus/mortgages/
Gillean Dooney, Managing Director at Barclays said: “It’s crucial we offer the right support to our customers through this challenging time. We have therefore decided to waive all overdraft interest until the end of April, meaning there will be no charges for customers to use their arranged overdraft. We are reviewing all options to help customers after this time to ensure we support those in financial difficulty.”
Existing measures in place:
Personal Banking Customers
We have a full package of support to help customers who are suffering financial hardship because of coronavirus, including:
Repayment holidays on residential mortgages for up to 90 days, with a new online form available for customers
With residential mortgages specifically, the option to switch capital repayment mortgages to interest only for up to 12 months
Waiving overdraft fees for all customers from 27th March until 30th April, with new solutions to follow after this date
For credit cards, ceasing late payment and cash advance fees for the next 90 days for all customers
Removing penalty charges to access fixed savings accounts early
We encourage any customer suffering hardship, or who anticipates financial difficulties to look on our dedicated page, www.barclays.co.uk/coronavirus/
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We are here to support our customers and have introduced a range of measures that will help customers manage their money through this challenging time. These include waiving overdraft charges and removing late payment fees on our credit cards as well as mortgage payment holidays for those in financial difficulty. We are always looking for new ways to help customers and will continue to develop news ways to support them.”
Business Banking customers
Barclays’ Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBIL) scheme launched on 23 March 2020 to help provide businesses with urgent cash flow support due to issues associated with COVID-19
Designed to support viable UK businesses with a turnover of no more that £45 million per annum
The scheme will provide businesses with lending of up to £5 million
The Government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments
https://www.barclays.co.uk/business-banking/borrow/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan/
Ian Rand, CEO of Barclays Business Banking, said:
“Barclays is a strong supporter of this CBIL scheme, designed to help the businesses hit hardest by Coronavirus.
“If your business was a viable business before the crisis, and you meet the criteria, then this scheme can provide vital financial support to see you through these current challenges.
“We know that speed is important right now, and I promise that we’re working as fast as we can to deliver the right support to businesses that need it.”
The CBILS is in addition to the following measures in place:
Free helpline open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm offering guidance, support and information. Available for the bank’s one million business banking customers
12-month capital repayment holidays on existing loans over £25k
Increased or new overdraft facilities and other working capital solutions
Access to funding – 360,000 SMEs have pre-assessed lending limits which can be accessed via the Barclays app or online banking
In addition, the bank has an existing £14 billion lending fund which we launched in 2019 as part of a three-year commitment to help SMEs build resilience during uncertain times. More detail here: https://home.barclays/news/2019/04/sme-lending-fund/
Corporate Banking Customers
Continuing outreach from dedicated relationship directors who remain in close contact with clients and will continue to assist with individual challenges such as working capital, liquidity, supply chains, and FX, to provide the appropriate support
Provision of responsible support to clients that have a funding requirement resulting from the coronavirus impact
Ready to aid short term cash flow pressures with measures such as capital repayment holidays, temporary increases to overdrafts and extending existing trade facilities
New, extended or amended lending facilities²
Client calls to discuss economic impacts, what we are seeing and expect to see in the FX and commodity markets, and supply chain impacts and options.
Notes to Editors
Online form for Mortgage Payment holiday can be found at https://www.barclays.co.uk/coronavirus/mortgages/
For further information
Barclays UK Press office: +44 (0) 7881 355 368 / Lucy.Hopkins@barclays.com
Barclaycard UK Press office: +44 (0) 788 208 8493 / polly.ewell@barclays.com
Corporate Banking Press Office: +44 (0) 207 116 4325 / ronan.kelleher@barclays.com
