Some Thailand credit card issuers reportedly plan to waive penalty fees for late payments because the two-month-long antigovernment protests that engulfed the country through mid-May made it difficult for many customers to make their payments.
Issuers also plan to offer debt-restructuring programs to borrowers affected by the disruption in services, which included temporary branch closings during the protests, reports Bangkok Post, a local newspaper.
An official from Krung Thai Card Ltd., Thailand’s largest card issuer with 1.7 million credit cards on issue at the end of 2009, confirms to PaymentsSource it will waive penalty fees on a case-by-case basis for cardholders who could not make their payments because of the branch closures.
Another card issuer, Tisco bank Ltd., also reportedly is offering customers an opportunity to negotiate for decreased monthly installments and a grace period for interest payments. And Siam Commercial Bank Ltd. similarly is said to be offering a debt-restructuring program that will involve reduced interest rates or a grace period for both interest and principal payments.
More than 2,000 branches throughout the country were closed last week alone because of the antigovernment protests, according the Bank of Thailand, the country's central bank.
Beginning in April, Bangkok and other major cities were plunged into crisis as antigovernment protesters who supported a former prime minister now in exile because of corruption charges hit the streets. Banks and ATMs were closed and even damaged during these protests.
