UK Finance welcomes the package of targeted temporary measures confirmed today by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for overdrafts, credit cards and instalment loans. The FCA's announcement follows detailed discussions with the banking and finance industry on how best to adopt a common approach to supporting customers during the coronavirus crisis. Previous agreement on temporary mortgage payment temporary relief for houseowners and private landlords was announced by mortgage lenders two weeks ago.

The financial services industry stands ready at this most difficult of times to help customers and the country get through this crisis and welcomes the support of the FCA to deliver this. A flexible and outcomes-focused approach to enable firms to support their customers will be particularly important at this time as firms work through unique or specific circumstances that may arise. 

As highlighted in our response to the FCA's consultation on the package of measures confirmed today, there were a number of regulatory complexities that could have stood in the way of the ability of all lenders to deliver much needed support for customers.

The FCA's package of measures confirmed this morning enable a number of these issues to be addressed and we are continuing to work with the authorities and the government to ensure no further regulatory or legislative rules complicate the ability of lenders to provide necessary help.  

Eric Leenders, Managing Director of Personal Finance, UK Finance, said: 

Lenders stand ready at this most difficult of times to support customers and help the country get through this crisis and welcome today's package of measures from the FCA to enable help deliver this. 

?We would remind customers of the FCA's own guidance to think carefully before making use of these measures and only do so if they need immediate help. Where customers can still afford to make payments, they should continue to do so. 

?We would encourage customers who want to find out more information about the help available or who want to apply for temporary relief to go online where possible. To help their customers, lenders are constantly keeping their websites updated with the latest information, including FAQs, which can answer many queries.

?For more detailed questions there are a range of different ways to get in touch, including through online chat, social media and mobile and banking apps. If customers do need to speak to their lender, we ask customers to be considerate of those most in need of immediate relief to ensure phone lines are available for this group and if possible consider waiting until after the Easter weekend to contact their lender.