A Big U-Turn on Moratorium for Hire-Purchase Loans? (30 April 2020)

Following the announcement by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) on the 6 months moratorium on loan repayments in March 2020, it took a sudden change of procedures on hire-purchase loans (car loans) today.

To recap, please click the below link to read our earlier blog post:

BNM Loan/Financing Deferment Measure. How it works actually? (March 2020)

With the topic "Operationalisation of Moratorium for Hire-Purchase Loans and Fixed Rate Islamic Financing", BNM today issued an announcement to the general public.

What is that?

What should I do?

Further to Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) announcement on 25 March 2020, banking institutions are in the process of formalising agreements which reflect the revised payment terms with borrowers/customers with hire-purchase (HP) loans and fixed-rate Islamic financing to give effect to the 6-month moratorium on loan/financing payments. 

In connection with the above, BNM has required banking institutions to take appropriate steps to ensure that borrowers/customers are provided with clear information on the process and changes to the terms of their agreements, as well as convenient means to conclude these agreements in view of the Movement Control Order. 

So, we have to wait for the official notification from banks?

Yes. Starting from 1 May 2020, borrowers/customers with HP loans and fixed-rate Islamic financing will receive a notification via SMS, email or registered mail from their banking institutions on the necessary steps that they need to take to complete the process of deferring their loan/financing payments under the moratorium.

Banking institutions will also provide to each borrower/customer-specific details of changes to the terms of his/her HP loan or fixed rate Islamic financing agreement. This should contain information on the revised payment schedule and any changes to payment amounts, including those arising from the normal interest/profit rate accrued during the moratorium.

*HP Moratorium terms would include the following:

• The prevailing Annual Percentage Rate (APR) as stated in the existing HP Agreement/AITAB HP-i Agreement will be charged on the deferred installments.
• The financing tenure/maturity date will be consequentially deferred corresponding to the period of moratorium granted.

What if I DO NOT want to take up the moratorium?
Any late interest/penalty being charged since I'm already one month late now?

Borrowers/customers who do not wish to take up the moratorium can still choose to do so at this time by informing their banking institutions and resuming their scheduled payments based on the terms of their existing agreements.

In such a case, borrowers/customers will be given reasonable time by banking institutions to regularise any outstanding scheduled payments that were earlier deferred under the moratorium.

Banking institutions will not impose overdue or late payment charges on these payments until they are due based on the revised payment schedule agreed with borrowers/customers.

Meaning, if you want to defer your hire-purchase loans, you MUST reply to the bank by end-May 2020.

Borrowers/customers are encouraged to refer to the websites, internet banking portals, or call centres of their banking institutions for further information.

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UPDATE
⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓

Latest Version is NO NEED TO APPLY.
But, need to complete the documentation.
Hmmmm.
What kind of documentation?
How simple would it be?

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Bank Negara Malaysia

30 Apr 2020

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