Context:

• Banca Transilvania was the first bank in Romania to announce, as early as March 14, support measures for customers by extending the grace period on credit cards and offering the option to defer up to 3 instalments for mortgage and consumer loans.
• Likewise, BT was the first bank in Romania to announce a framework of immediate, substantial measures to support SMEs and corporates.
• In the meantime, initiatives have been put forward by the Government of Romania—welcomed and supported by BT—to introduce uniform measures for Romanians with loans who are affected by the current social and economic context.
• The Government’s proposed measures have been implemented through the implementing rules for GEO 37/2020 on deferring loan repayments, published in the Official Gazette this week.

Today, Banca Transilvania is announcing a new customer support program for this difficult period, including an additional measure. The new program replaces the program already in place. As always, Banca Transilvania puts customers first.

Details of BT’s measures for individual customers:

• Banca Transilvania offers affected customers the option to defer instalments for up to 9 months, but no later than December 31, 2020.
• The loan term will be extended by a period equal to the duration of the suspension of payment obligations.
• For mortgage‑secured loans, interest accrued during the deferral period will be repaid over up to 60 months, and that amount will not itself bear interest, in line with the Emergency Ordinance.
• For personal loans, the accrued interest will be rescheduled through to the end of the loan’s new—extended—maturity; BT has chosen to apply an interest rate of 0% to these amounts as well. This measure is in addition to the legal requirements adopted by the State.
• In addition, the bank will run its own parallel program, using the same mechanism, for customers who do not explicitly fall within the provisions of the GEO and who do not have past‑due amounts older than March 1 this year, but could not pay because they were affected by the current context. The bank is also maintaining the extended grace period for credit cards until May 25 this year, as announced on March 14 this year.

For customers: the first step to take

• To benefit from BT’s measures, customers must submit a request within 45 days from the date the Emergency Ordinance took effect (March 30 this year), i.e., by May 14 this year.
• Bank customers who have already used a BT support option may request a deferral under the Ordinance; in that case, their current arrangement will be discontinued and they will be enrolled in the new program as of the date of the new request.

How customers can request a deferral:

• On the BT website;
• Through the BT Visual Help app (call 0264 308 000 – follow the link received by SMS – access the app/deferral option), after which customers will be contacted by the bank by phone.
• By phone at 0264 308 080 (BT Customer Care team).

Banca Transilvania will contact customers with a response within 15 days from the date the request is received.