700,000 credit card payment holidays granted to help coronavirus-hit borrowers
The figures have been released by UK Finance
Nearly 700,000 payment holidays on credit cards have been granted as part of stop-gap measures to support borrowers whose finances have been affected by the coronavirus.
Lenders have also provided almost 470,000 payment freezes on personal loans, according to the figures for the period up to the end of April released by trade association UK Finance.
Firms have also worked to ensure these steps will not harm customers' credit files, as taking a payment holiday will not be reported to credit reference agencies as the customer being in arrears.
Interest will normally continue to be charged during payment holidays - so customers taking this option may end up having to pay back more money over the longer term after the payment holiday ends.
Interest-free overdraft buffers of £500 have also been applied to more than 27 million personal current accounts - both in response to customers asking for it and buffers being put in place automatically.
Published: by Radio NewsHub