Support to customers during the COVID-19 pandemic

In 2021, we were all more aware and better adapted to living and operating under constraints, which enabled us to deal more effectively with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Loan repayment reliefs

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the bank has supported customers in providing loan repayment reliefs. Our customers are offered a possibility to reduce the amount of repaid loan instalments on their own, in the electronic banking, by way of:

• extension of the loan period by 12 months in the case of cash loans and SMEs,
• 50% reduction of the principal repayment for 12 months for mortgages and SMEs,
• Reliefs under the Financial Shield 4.0 scheme – suspension of the loan agreement up to 3 months for retail customers.

Concessions

In e-banking services, we offered customers a possibility of:

• changing the instalment payment date,
• changing the account for the repayment of the loan.

We have set up a dedicated website for customers with up-to-date information on what support we can provide to them at: www.santander.pl/koronawirus-aktualne-informacje-banku.

Operation of aid programmes

In 2021, we continued our activities under the government’s anti-crisis programmes offering support to customers in financial distress caused by the pandemic. We implemented the tools and processed applications for subsidies under the PFR’s Financial Shield 2.0 aid scheme (application forms were available in online banking for Mini Firma, Moja Firma plus and iBiznes24 users). In the first half of the year we also continued to support aid programmes operated by BGK.

Sector responses to the pandemic

We co-created and adopted the second moratorium developed by the banking sector under the auspices of the Polish Bank Association, setting out uniform rules for offering relief tools to customers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.