Advertisement
Banking & finance
BusinessBanking & Finance

Coronavirus: HSBC and Standard Chartered among Hong Kong banks to waive fees, cut loan repayments for small businesses, individuals struggling amid outbreak

  • Relief measures follow the financial secretary’s warning that economy could shrink again in 2020 as viral outbreak dents businesses
  • City’s lenders have previously offered large-scale relief measures during the Sars outbreak in 2003 and the Asian financial crisis in 1998

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Shops shuttered up in Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong’s major retail districts on January 8. Photo: Nora Tam
Enoch Yiu
A number of Hong Kong banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered have rushed to introduce measures to relieve the pressure on small and medium-sized businesses and individuals as the coronavirus outbreak threatens to further derail the city’s embattled economy.
Advertisement
The measures, which include waiving fees and letting customers pay just the interest on loans, come as industries such as restaurants, retail and tourism take a huge hit from the health crisis. Months of anti-government protests and the effects of the trade war had already dealt them a massive blow.

The city’s lenders have previously offered large-scale relief measures, during the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003 and the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

China Citic Bank International will offer 24-month loans of HK$80,000 or HK$150,000 each to small and mid-sized businesses with a promise to approve eligible applications within five days, it announced on late Friday. Borrowers only need to service the interest in the first year, before the principal plus interest repayments kick in from the 13th month, it said.

The Bank of East Asia will allow customers to apply for repayment of just the interest on their loans and debt restructuring, according to a spokeswoman.

“We understand the coronavirus outbreak has made life difficult for many or our individual and corporate customers. As a result, we have been offering relief measures to help customers. The measures will depend on their individual needs and will be determined on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Hang Seng Bank, a subsidiary of HSBC, has tasked its team of commercial customer relationship managers to contact its customers to find out how it can help them.

Advertisement