Ms. Lucie Blanchet reports

NATIONAL BANK ANNOUNCES NEW SUPPORT MEASURES AND A SPECIAL APPROACH FOR SENIORS

National Bank of Canada has arranged new measures for mortgage loans, credit cards and everyday banking transactions to support its clients dealing with the exceptional circumstances caused by COVID-19.

National Bank is doing three important things for its clients with these measures:

• Compensating them for the additional interest charged if they defer their mortgage payments, thereby eliminating the interest payment on the interest incurred as a result of the deferral;
• Reducing the impact of interest charges on credit cards for clients who requested a deferral and who are most affected by this crisis;
• Waiving certain banking fees temporarily.

National Bank is also launching a special measure for seniors. The bank will write to all its clients who are aged 75 or older, and/or living in a long-term care facility or in a seniors residence, to make sure they have all the information they need at hand. The bank will be implementing a process in its call centres to prioritize their calls, starting next week.

"In the past few weeks, we've helped tens of thousands of clients by offering them relief measures, payment deferrals, and valuable advice and support. Our employees are handling every single request with the utmost care," said Lucie Blanchet, executive vice-president of personal banking and client experience at National Bank. "The measures announced today, which will be added to those already in place, will allow us to offer extra help to people who need it most, especially seniors."

The main measures announced are as follows. Please consult the relevant pages on the bank's website for details on each measure.

Mortgage loans

The bank will be refunding interest charges: A few weeks ago, National Bank introduced a mortgage payment deferral measure. Today, it is making a commitment to compensate all clients who defer their mortgage loan payments for the additional interest incurred during the deferral period. The amount will vary based on the mortgage balance and interest rate.

Credit cards:

• The bank will defer monthly payments: Clients can ask to defer their minimum monthly payments on their National Bank Mastercard credit card by up to 90 days.
• The bank will reduce interest rates: National Bank will temporarily reduce the annual interest rate on credit cards to 10.9 per cent for all credit cardholders who have been granted a payment deferral, based on their financial situation.
• The bank offers one of the lowest interest rates: The Syncro credit card offers one of the best annual interest rates on the market -- currently 8.9 per cent on purchases.
• Clients can pay their balance with points: Several of National Bank's credit cards allow clients to use their rewards points to pay all or part of their account balance.

Everyday banking

National Bank is temporarily waiving the following fees:

• Interac e-transfers: The bank is waiving the $1 fee for clients who don't have a banking package.
• Stop payments on cheques and preauthorized debits: The bank is waiving the $16/$30 fee.
• Overdraft interest on chequing accounts and high-interest savings accounts will not be charged.

About National Bank of Canada

With $289-billion in assets as at Jan. 31, 2020, National Bank, together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups. It has more than 26,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer and for its commitment to diversity.