Toronto: RBC announced it will be reducing credit card interest charges by 50% for those clients receiving minimum payment deferrals on credit cards.
Upon completion of a financial review with an RBC advisor, customers will be eligible for a 50% credit of their interest charges during the deferral period.
“Clients are managing their spending as they adjust to new circumstances and, to help them, we have introduced several relief measures to support them in this very difficult time,” said Neil McLaughlin, Group Head, Personal and Commercial Banking for RBC. “More than anything, clients need to know that they have options. Approximately 80% of our clients either do not pay credit card interest or have access to lower interest rate options, like Lines of Credit. By reducing interest charges for clients who receive credit card minimum payment deferrals, we are now offering additional support during these challenging times.”
For personal and small business credit card clients already receiving minimum payment deferrals, RBC will reduce the current interest charges on their credit card by 50%. The difference in interest will be credited to their account. For more information about financial relief available to clients during these times, please visit https://www.rbc.com/covid-19/index.html.
CIBC also announced that it is offering reduced interest rates on personal credit cards for Canadians experiencing financial hardship due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
CIBC credit card clients who request to skip a payment and are experiencing financial difficulties will receive a temporary lower annual rate of 10.99% as they deal with the impact of Covid-19. For the 80,000 Canadians that have already received CIBC credit card relief, the temporary lower rate will be retroactively applied to March 15, 2020.
Clients seeking a credit card payment deferral are encouraged to complete the online financial assistance form. Clients in financial hardship can also contact their CIBC Advisor or call 1-877-454-9030 to discuss options to improve their cash flow over the short term by reviewing their payment obligations.
“We know Canadians need help now to manage day to day expenses,” says Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Senior Executive Vice-President, Personal and Business Banking, CIBC. “By lowering rates, we want to help reduce stress that Canadians are feeling as a result of Covid-19 and provide them with additional flexibility for every day purchases.”
Installment Plans
CIBC is also announcing that as of April 6, credit card purchases of $100 or more are now eligible for installment plans with lower annual interest rates. CIBC will also be rebating the one time installment fee of 1.5% of the purchase amount which is typically applied with this feature until June 30, 2020.