Along with the development of the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to successful realize the “dual goals” of both prevention and control of Covid-19 pandemic while ensuring a stable and safe operation, affirming the role as the Bank of PCFs. Under that circumstance, Co-opBank has implemented many solutions to support PCFs as well as enterprise and individual customers to overcome the difficult situations caused by the pandemic.
According to a Co-opBank’s representative, with the early prediction of the pandemic situation and the experience in 2020, right from the beginning of 2021, Co-opBank has been proactive in epidemic prevention such as deploying alternate working plans, working remotely, working at suitable backup locations; ensuring its employees fully vaccinated; using technology in working from home. In particular, the establishment of a specialized unit in charge of Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control has helped Co-opBank to promptly take appropriate response to the pandemic throughout the system, ensuring the uninterrupted banking operations.
Co-opBank’s branches throughout the system have reviewed and grasped the business situation and the level of impact on customers by the Covid-19 pandemic. From there, Co-opBank branches have worked with customers to provide support plans such as: restructuring the repayment period; considering exemption or reduction of loan interest. At the same time, Co-opBank has also decentralized the branches to identify suitable alternative investment objects; as well as balancing and timely meeting capital needs; bringing customers more opportunities to access banking services, reducing business expenses and improving financial capacity to help them to quickly recover and stabilize their production and business activities.
In the role of the Bank of PCFs, Co-opBank has actively supported PCFs in lending to members and focused resources on investment in agricultural development. Co-opBank has also increased investment in technology in order to provide modern banking products and services for enterprises, individual customers and PCFs members; and at the same time, continues to improve the quality of its existing products and services such as CF-eBank, overdraft cards, syndicated loans, affiliated loans and etc.
Co-opBank’s banking products and services have received positive feedback from customers and PCFs. Currently, a number of new banking products and services such as loans for PCFs’ staff, overdraft loans with collaterals… have been studied and are expected to be deployed soon in order to diversify credit products to meet customers’ demand.
Further reduction of interest rates for customers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic
Specifically, since March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Co-opBank has actively accompanied customers to identify their difficulties and find solutions to promptly support them. Customers benefiting from preferential policies on fees and interest rates include: PCFs borrowing capital from Co-opBank to lend to members operating in the agricultural sector; small enterprise customers directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic; enterprise and individual customers operating in fields directly/indirectly affected by the epidemic.
Co-opBank has also provided specific criteria for assessing the level of pandemic impact. In particular, the direct impact is defined as direct customers operating in the fields of production – business – trade – services who are forced to stop operating or operate in moderation at the request of the Government or social distancing policy leading to downsizing the scale of operations, reducing revenue, reducing income, losing jobs…
The indirect impact is identified when customers who do not operate in the sectors which are forced to close or reduce their operations but still have their income reduced because they cannot continue their current job because of the pandemic.
Beside reducing the interest rates for short-term, medium-term and long-term loans by 0.5 to 1% per year, Co-opBank has issued a direction document on supporting customers affected by the pandemic. Thereby, Co-opBank branches’ managers have been assigned to have the right to consider the level of pandemic influences to each customer to further reduce the interest rate of up to 1% per year compared to Co-opBank’s current loan rates.
Currently, Co-opBank’s priority customers for support are entities (PCFs, enterprises and individuals) in the field of agricultural development, within focus on lending to households and public officials (such as teachers) to develop production, services in rural areas. In addition to lending directly to customers, Co-opBank also actively lends through PCFs in the form of affliated loans and syndicated loans.
The Covid-19 pandemic is forecasted to continue for a foreseeable future and will affect customers’ production and business activities. Co-opBank will continue to support customers with existing credit incentive programs. At the same time, maintaining the policy of 50% reduction in domestic payment remittance fees for all customers having accounts at Co-opBank from the beginning of 2021. Since August 2021, Co-opBank has started to reduce fees by 70% for withdrawing and transferring money via ATM card account, waiving fee for transfer in the card alliance system to promote non-cash payment and support customers to overcome difficulties caused by the pandemic. From 2020, CBV has cut operating costs as much as possible, adjusted employees’ salaries and cut profits by more than 20% compared to 2019 to reduce the lending interest rates and customer support services fees, increase financial capacity and anticipate opportunities to recover and develop production and business under the “new normal” situation.
