Standard Bank clients earning R7 500 or less will automatically qualify for a three-month payment holiday on all personal account-related debt, the bank said on Sunday.

People earning more than R7 500 will be able to qualify for the instalment relief by contacting the bank.

Standard Bank last week introduced similar payment holidays for business and student-related debt during the Covid-19 disaster.

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* This story has been updated.

Standard Bank, which has already given its business clients and students a break, has now extended debt repayment holidays to its personal account customers too during the Covid-19 disaster.

The bank said all customers earning R7 500 or less, and who are not in arrears in any of their accounts, will automatically be granted three months of instalment relief.

People earning more than R7 500 will be able to qualify for the instalment relief by contacting the bank.

That means customers can hold off on paying home loans, car loans, other asset finance, short term loans, and credit cards, Standard Bank said.

Interest and bank charges will still be charged during this time.

The three-month instalment relief will be available on 1 April 2020 until end June 2020.

The bank said customers do not need to contact the bank to take up the offer, but customers can continue to pay their accounts too, as usual, should they not want to take up the offer.

Standard Bank last week introduced debt relief for small business with a turnover of less than R20 million, as well as on student loans.

“At Standard Bank, we are continuously looking for ways to provide the necessary assistance to our customers who have been impacted negatively by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Standard Bank South Africa’s chief executive for personal and business banking Funeka Montjane said in a statement.

Funeka said qualifying employers and employees will also soon get relief from initiatives like the Solidarity Fund.

* This story has been updated after Standard Bank clarified that people earning more than R7 500 can get instalment relief when they contact the bank.

(Compiled by James de Villiers)

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