BANKS FINALLY MATCH OUR STANDARDS ON HARDSHIP ASSISTANCE

Recent press reports have highlighted steps that borrowers can take to deal with financial hardship if you borrow from one of the big 4 banks.

As a mutual credit union, we don’t need to be persuaded by the Government to put our members first. Our members are our owners and that’s how we treat them.
The media coverage today has been quite misleading, suggesting that the big banks will offer automatic repayment holidays and other measures. This is not the case – the 4 big banks have agreed to look seriously at hardship applications on a case by case basis, and to work with their customers more sympathetically.

These are commitments we at Companion already make.

At Companion, we have always offered help to members who may experience financial hardship. That’s what being member-owned is all about – putting our member’s interests first.
At Companion, we focus on making sure we lend responsibly, but we understand that your circumstances can change, for example, because of a change in your employment.

Working with you we can make an assessment of how best to assist you and your family based on your ability to meet the obligations of your loan. This is the high standard of credit union service we have always applied.

While it’s good to see big banks looking at this issue, their new announcement is about doing what we have always done, by working with you wherever possible when tough times arrive.
Any member who is facing difficult financial circumstances or an inability to repay their loan should contact t us on 131 609 and we will work with you to tailor a response that suits your particular circumstances.

Ray O’Brien
6 April 2009

April 6th, 2009 | Leave a Comment »