Banks Help Gov’t Workers Impacted By Shutdown

With the government shutdown continuing, banks in the U.S. have been stepping up to help, offering forbearance on loans and the associated fees.

According to a report in TheFinancial Times citing JPMorgan Chase, the bank has waived all fees on checking accounts, including overdraft charges, for customers who no longer receive a government check directly deposited into their account with the bank. It also said it will help government workers who could miss a payment on a car, credit card or mortgage payment. “Our goal is to try as best we can to protect customers from negative consequences for missing a payment, such as late fees or reporting a late payment to a credit bureau,” said Patricia Wexler, a spokeswoman for the bank, in the report with The Financial Times. “We’re working one on one with customers to try to get them to where they would have been, absent the shutdown.”

Meanwhile, Marcus, the online lending unit of Goldman Sachs, said in a tweet that it was here for government workers whose payroll is impacted by the government shutdown. The bank said it could provide loan payment deferrals, noted the report.  The report noted that Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Capital One, SunTrust and Bank of America said they plan on working with affected customers who seek assistance. A Citi spokesman Drew Benson told the FT that Citi customers may be able to get fee and interest adjustments, as well as short-term forbearance and repayment plans or loan modifications, noted the report. “So far, we have experienced limited calls into our customer service center,” a Wells Fargo representative told the paper last week.

The FT noted that the shutdown impacts around a quarter of federal agencies such as national parks, the Internal Revenue Service and other non-essential agencies. The report noted about 800,000 workers are impacted by either being furloughed or working without getting pay until the shutdown comes to an end.  A meeting late last week between President Donald Trump and Democrats yielded no leeway. The same was reported over the weekend, pushing the government shutdown into its third week.