Following the latest rate hike, Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) has announced another measure designed to ease credit terms for customers. The bank has launched a subsidized loan fund for small businesses. The bank did not specify the size of the fund.
As part of the fund, Hapoalim small business customers including the self-employed, who have an annual turnover of less than NIS 25 million can receive loans of up to NIS 100,000 from the fund for up to 60 months, with a grace period of six months at prime interest plus 1.5% – lower than the interest rate for comparable small business loans.
Receipt of the loan is at the bank’s discretion and underwriting procedures and is carried out by submitting a dedicated digital application on the bank’s website before the end of March 2023. The loan is not indexed will bear a variable annual interest rate of prime + 1.5%, which is an annual nominal interest rate of 6.25% and an annual adjusted interest rate of 6.43% (as of today).
The move is one of a number of solutions announced by Hapoalim recently. In November, Hapoalim allowed customers to extend the prime track on their mortgages, while maintaining the other terms of the original loan track. Earlier this week Hapoalim announced that it will absorb the Bank of Israel’s interest rate hike (0.5% announced Monday) on prime track mortgages (for customers who meet the criteria).
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on January 5, 2023.
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