Australia's big banks to extend loan repayments for select customers

But customers who can resume paying their loans are required to do so.

Some of Australia’s biggest banks will extend the deferral of loan repayments for up to four months as the nation scrambles to contain the threat of a second wave of coronavirus infections, reports Bloomberg.

Customers with reduced incomes and ongoing financial difficulty due to COVID-19 will be contacted as they approach the end of the six-month deferral period, after which an extension will be granted if they genuinely need some extra time, the Australian Banking Association said in an emailed statement.

Their options will include extending the length of the loan and converting to interest-only payments.

Meanwhile, customers who can resume paying their loans will be required to do so at the end of the period.

With improving economic prospects albeit tempered by uncertainty about the health situation, many of the more than 800,000 Australians who deferred repayments are showing signs of recovering, according to the statement.

“Encouragingly, many customers have already chosen to resume making repayments,” ABA Chief Executive Officer Anna Bligh said.

Here’s more from Bloomberg.