Support it has provided to firms includes capital repayment holidays, overdraft extensions, additional lending designed to support businesses adapt to a rapidly changing external environment, fee free loans, and support through government schemes such as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Mark Crimmins, Head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, said that the bank has so far provided additional support to more than 1,100 companies impacted by the coronavirus situation, with the number rising daily.
He continued: “We are doing everything possible to proactively reach out to our customers, and my colleagues are working extremely hard in difficult circumstances to serve the needs of local businesses through a wide range of measures.
“The impacts our customers experience will vary from sector to sector, but we are being proactive in the way we support them and we are speaking to many of them about the steps they can take and the support that’s available to them.
“It’s understandable that in the current environment some businesses may not feel that debt funding is the right solution for them and as a prudent lender and a core part of the Northern Ireland economy, we are working with businesses to provide sustainable support. As part of that, we continue to stress the importance of businesses getting in touch as we can provide advice and planning to help them find other ways to build resilience.
“We will constantly review all the actions we are taking to make sure they are having the right impact and will continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders to find solutions to the problems we are all facing and to plan for the future,” he adds.
Speaking about the bank’s support for consumers and households, Terry Robb, Head of Personal Banking, NI, Ulster Bank, said that bank is also providing substantial support to personal banking customers, with more than 1,700 mortgage repayment holidays already approved.
“My focus remains very much on supporting our personal banking customers at a time of considerable challenge for many of them. We are offering mortgage and loan deferrals for up to three months for customers who need it. In terms of our SVR, we also passed on the Bank of England interest reduction in full. In addition, we took the decision to freeze overdraft interest at current rates for personal customers for at least three months, to give customers peace of mind in a worrying time, and have removed all other overdraft fees and charges, meaning that all customers who use their overdraft for the three months from Monday 30th March will pay less.”
Ulster Bank also has a range of other support measures available for personal banking customers including dedicated phone lines for NHS workers and vulnerable customers, refunds on credit card cash advance fees, and a three-month moratorium on residential and buy-to-let possession action.
Mark Crimmins, Head of Ulster Bank NI
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