The Act on several measures in the area of finance relating to the spread of COVID-19 has been signed by the president and enters effect today, 9 April. It enables all clients who satisfy the set conditions to request deferral of payments under new rules. While any of the bank’s communication channels can be used to request deferral, Slovenská sporiteľňa recommends using George because it is the fastest and safest way for clients. In the next few hours, we will set up a special “tile” in George and until then we continue to recommend using this link.

“In recent weeks we have added new functionality to George to enable you to request a deferral from the comfort of your home. It is very easy to file a request because all the necessary information is loaded into the form automatically. Another benefit is that if you submit a request in this way, it can be processed in just a few days. Since most clients who have a loan from us also use George, we believe this is the option they will choose,” explains Marta Cesnaková, Slovenská sporiteľňa’s spokesperson. This function is currently in the web version of George but the bank plans to add it to the mobile app soon.

Requests received so far

To date more than 9,000 clients have expressed an interest in adjusting their payment schedule with Slovenská sporiteľňa, by contacting the bank by phone, e-mail or digital form. Many of these people just wanted advice and many others decided to wait for the new legislation. So far, Slovenská sporiteľňa has adjusted the payment schedule for around 900 clients.

“The clients who have already asked for a payment deferral will be contacted in the next few days so that we can agree on the next steps. They will be able to choose whether to request a payment deferral based on the new Coronavirus Act or whether to make an individual agreement with us on reducing their monthly instalments. If the client has urgent problems and wants a deferral under the new rules, they can also start the new process themselves using George,” concludes Marta Cesnaková, Slovenská sporiteľňa’s spokesperson. The bank currently recommends that clients think carefully about deferral and request it only when their ability to make payments is really at risk. It is also possible to agree on reduced instalments, which is more advantageous for them.

Advice for clients

• Payments can be deferred at the client’s request and without charge,
• we recommend applying online using George,
• you can defer up to 9 monthly instalments,
• the final maturity of the loan is extended by the deferral period,
• deferral of payments does not mean that they have been forgiven and the loan will continue to accumulate interest during the deferral,
• deferral of payments does not include insurance fees, which must be paid as at present,
• at the date of request, you must not have more than 30 days of arrears on loan payments nor be in a state of default under special legislation,
• you must not have had more than 30 days of arrears on any loan that we provided of EUR 100 or more on 29 February 2020,
• you can request only one payment deferral under the Coronavirus Act per loan,
• you will not receive a negative entry in the credit register.