The Moratorium Assistance Series: What Are These Four Malaysian Banks Offering?
On March 17, 2021, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, unveiled the People and Economic Strategic Empowerment Programme, or PEMERKASA stimulus package. During the unveiling of the sixth stimulus package from the Malaysian government, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also took the opportunity to assure Malaysians that the targeted moratorium assistance is still available. The moratorium initiative has been key to provide a much-needed helpline for 1.4 million individual borrowers and Small and Mid-size Enterprises (SME), and has an approval rate of up to 95%, according to the Prime Minister.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the mechanics of the targeted moratorium assistance in Public Bank, Bank Islam, CIMB and Maybank, which are popular local banks in Malaysia. The first part of this three-part series will be on Public Bank’s moratorium assistance initiatives.
Public Bank
To provide moratorium assistance to its customers, Public Bank has two programmes for its retail customers, which are:
Existing Targeted Repayment/Payment Arrangement for targeted eligible individuals (TRA).
Expanded Targeted Repayment/Payment Assistance (ETRA) for eligible individuals in the B40 and M40 categories
However, the loan/financing to qualify for both of these programmes must be less than 90 days overdue.
Digital Application (first & second week of March 2021)
Digital Application (w.e.f. third week of March 2021) & Non-Digital Application (w.e.f. 1st March 2021)
However, Public Bank has also asked for customers to take note of the following conditions for Options 1 to 4:
Loan/financing tenure will be extended accordingly together with compounding interest or accrued profit/rental at the prevailing rate.
For all COVID-19 Reschedule Repayment / Payment Arrangement application and/or approval effective October 1, 2020, any instalment (ijarah rental) in arrears (up to a maximum of three months, if any) shall be zerorised and continue to form part of the loan/financing outstanding amount.
Digital applications can only be made by customers who received an SMS invitation.
Digital applications are not applicable for Trade Bills, Overdraft, Cash Line Facility-i, Islamic Fixed Rate Financing, AKPK account under Debt Management Programme (DMP), Non-SME, Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC)/Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP) guaranteed loans/financing.
For applicants who qualify, digital applications can be made here. You will be directed to the below screen:
Simply select if the financing is under individual or joint names, proceed to key in your identity card or passport number and the account number before clicking ‘Submit’.
For applicants who would like to submit a non-digital application, you may access the forms here:
Do take note that you will also need to submit verifying documents such as a termination or retrenchment letter, Voluntary Separation Scheme or Mutual Separation Scheme letter.
You may submit your forms to any Public Bank, Public Islamic Bank Berhad, or Credit Control Centres. Find out the nearest branch from where you are by simply clicking here.
Frequently Asked Questions for TRA
I am still unemployed after losing a job. Am I still eligible to apply for a further three months of zero instalment repayment?
Yes, you may apply under ‘Other Option’ from January 2021 to March 31, 2021.
Is there a Supplementary Letter of Offer that I would need to accept?
Yes, upon approval of your application, a Supplementary Letter of Offer will be sent to you via encrypted email. You have seven days to digitally accept the Supplementary Letter of Offer from the date of the bank’s approval, however this deadline may be extended at the bank’s discretion. Do take note that for joint names financing, each borrower must accept this Supplementary Letter of Offer digitally and individually.
Public Bank launched the Expanded Targeted Repayment/Payment Assistance (ETRA) initiative to provide relief for customers who meet the qualifying criteria, which are stipulated below:
Individuals who are categorised as B40 / registered in the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) database, and / or
Individuals whose spouse is a BSH recipient, or
Individuals who are in the M40 category / registered in the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) database.
To make things more convenient for customers, Public Bank is agreeable to accept a self-declaration on the meeting of these criteria, with no submission of documentation required at this stage. However, the assistance will only be extended to non-credit impaired or non-bankrupt customers.
B40 Category: Income threshold is RM 4,849 per month.
M40 Category: Income threshold is between RM 4,850 and RM 10,959 per month.
Under ETRA, there are two options for eligible customers to choose from:
Option 1: Three months deferment in repayment/payment (zero instalments)
This is not applicable for customers under the M40 category under BPN.
Option 2: 50% reduction of existing monthly loan/financing instalment/interest/profit for a period of six months
However, this is not applicable for existing customers Public Bank and Public Islamic Bank Berhad who are under the Existing Targeted Repayment/Payment Arrangement, or TRA, programme.
Note:
The revised repayment or payment arrangement will take effect in the following month.
According to Public Bank, there will be no changes to your existing interest/profit rate.
For conventional loans, the interest will accrue monthly on a monthly or daily rest with compounding interest.
For Islamic financing, the profit will accrue on a non-compounding basis, in line with Shariah principles.
However, there will be a higher overall borrowing/financing cost as a result of deferred payment (except for Islamic Financing under fixed-rate and BAE personal financing). The additional cost will be stipulated in the electronic Notification Letter which you will receive via email upon successful submission.
How Can I Apply?
There are two ways to opt-in to ETRA, which are:
Digital Opt-In Confirmation
For customers who prefer to opt-in digitally, you may do so by clicking here. You will need to indicate if the financing is under an individual name or joint names. Then, proceed to key in your identity card or passport number, as well as the loan account number before clicking ‘submit’.
Do take note that an electronic notification letter will be sent to your email upon successful submission of your digital opt-in confirmation. The deadline for digital opt-in confirmation is June 30, 2021.
If your name is not included in the list of customers under ETRA, you may choose the non-digital opt-in confirmation.
Non-Digital Opt-In Confirmation
Under this option, you will need to print out the following form and walk into any Public Bank, Public Islamic Bank Berhad branches or Credit Control Centres to submit the form. To find out the nearest Public Bank branch from you, simply click here.
If you are wondering where you can obtain the required form, simply click the link below:
If I opt-in for the ETRA, I understand that there will be a higher overall borrowing/financing cost due to the deferred payment. Before opting-in, how can I know exactly how much the increase would be?
You may contact any one of the helpdesk hunting lines (at the end of this article) for assistance on this matter.
I have just realised that the e-mail address I provided earlier is no longer in use. How can I update my new email address so I can receive the electronic Notification Letter?
You can easily do so via your online banking or visit any Public Bank branches to update your email address.
I chose to opt out of the automatic moratorium granted from April to September 2020. Will I still be eligible for ETRA opt-in confirmation?
Yes, you are.
Should you require further assistance, below are the list of contact for Public Bank Help Desks:
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Simply select if the financing is under individual or joint names, proceed to key in your identity card or passport number and the account number before clicking ‘Submit’. 
