The banking associations AEB, CECA, and UNACC have signed a collaboration agreement with the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy (MTES) and the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), allowing credit institutions to advance unemployment benefit payments to individuals affected by the current health crisis. The ultimate goal of this agreement is to alleviate the negative impact this situation may have on the disposable income of those affected and thus help mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis on the most vulnerable groups.
The signed agreement establishes the procedure that institutions voluntarily joining the initiative must follow. It will have an initial duration of three months, renewable for the same period.
With this initiative, individuals whose unemployment benefits have been recognized by SEPE will not have to wait until the 10th of the following month to receive their benefits. The process is as follows: SEPE recognizes the unemployment benefit, communicates it to the financial institution, and from that moment, the institution can offer the advance directly to beneficiaries so they can access the money earlier and cover their expenses.
The potential beneficiaries of the advances considered in this agreement are individuals for whom SEPE recognizes an unemployment benefit or subsidy starting May 1st, with retroactive economic effects from March 14, 2020.
The agreement stipulates that the interest rate applicable to the operation will be 0%. Furthermore, there will be no commission of any kind for carrying out this operation, nor will any guarantee be required for its collection.
Once again, credit institutions offer their full cooperation to the authorities to alleviate the economic effects of the serious situation caused by the coronavirus and reaffirm their commitment to implement support measures for individuals affected by the halt in activity and who are in a vulnerable situation.
