Private sector link arms to counter 'public enemy number one' fallout

Maybank Kim Eng economists, for one, estimate that Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will dole out some $700 million worth of aid when he delivers the 2020 Budget speech on Feb 18.

Ahead of Heng’s speech, various private sector companies have announced their support of one kind or another of their own, for their customers and partners.

ERA Realty Network

ERA Realty Network launched a mobile-first micro-learning platform in partnership with Gnowbe, for real estate professionals to learn-as-they-earn. In view of the Covid-19 situation, this e-learning platform will allow real estate professionals to safely and conveniently access their training online, opposed to large group trainings.

This platform will include real estate salesperson courses, technical & soft skill training, as well as briefings on project launches. A total of nine modules will cover a range of topics such as asset progression tools for real estate investments, ethics and issues faced by real estate salespersons, sales kits for use in marketing new projects and personal branding, and more.

Additionally, ERA Singapore has also launched various digital initiatives to support its associates during this period of time, including a Digital Contact Tracing & Health Declaration Form for agents to track their buyers or sellers’ condition before meeting up; and a Virtual Access to Market Insights and Training Seminar to avoid large group gatherings.

Prudential Singapore

Prudential Singapore is allocating $1.5 million to help both SMEs and individual customers.

The insurer will allow employees of SMEs covered by its group insurance to continue to receive medical coverage should their employers run into cashflow difficulties. The SMEs affected can choose to defer their premium payments for up to three months.

“SMEs are an important pillar of our economy and unfortunately, many have been hard hit by the current situation,” says Goh Theng Kiat, Prudential Singapore’s chief customer officer.

“Many people depend on their employer’s medical and hospitalisation plan to cover their medical expenses. We hope to provide some financial relief by letting our SME customers postpone their premium payment to tide them over this difficult period and ensure their employees and their families continue to receive medical coverage,” he adds.

Prudential will also provide its customers and their immediate family members serving quarantine orders a one-time $500 cash benefit. Individual customers and their immediate family members who are hospitalised because of the virus will receive a $200 daily hospitalisation allowance, for up to three months of hospitalisation.

The insurer has also pledged to give $100,000 to the Courage Fund.

AIA Singapore

AIA Singapore on Feb 17 said that all of its 1.4 million eligible customer, employees and tied representatives will automatically benefit from a free special coverage that includes a lump sum pay-out of $1,000 for hospitalisation and covers death due to the coronavirus disease. This is part of the insurer's efforts to protect individuals against the ongoing CoVid-19 threat. New customers whose policies are issued between Feb 17 and July 31, 2020 will also receive the same benefits.

The additional CoVid-19 coverage will benefit its stakeholders until Dec 31, 2020; or 30 days after the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition' (DORSCON) level has officially stepped down to green, whichever is earlier.

Patrick Teow, CEO of AIA Singapore says, "This coverage is one of our ways of upholding our brand promise, helping and supporting our stakeholders in times of need. They can also be assured that we have a dedicated team who would provide their utmost attention in the event that they are diagnosed with COVID-19."

Golden Energy and Resources (GEAR)

Energy and mining company GEAR has pledged donations of $220,000 to the TTSH Community Fund, the charity arm of Tan Tock Seng Hospital; NUHS Fund Limited, the charity arm of the National University Health System; and Singapore Red Cross, in support of the fight against CoVid-19 in Singapore and other social causes. Of the amount pledged, TTSH Community Fund and NUHS Fund Limited will each receive $100,000 to help defray costs incurred by the hospital during the current virus outbreak, as well as towards affected and needy patients. Singapore Red Cross will receive $20,000 to be used to deliver assistance and support to communities in China.

Dwi Prasetyo Suseno, executive director and deputy group CEO of GEAR says, “We have great confidence in the capabilities and efficiency of the Singapore government in its fight against CoVid-19. As part of precautionary measures and in our efforts to protect the well-being of employees, we conduct regular temperature screening, as well as provide surgical masks and hand sanitisers. We have activated business continuity plans with employees working from separate sites and from home, to ensure that business operations continue with minimal disruptions. On a larger scale, we are also partnering with and supporting various stakeholders in Singapore through donations to charity funds.”

Great Eastern
Insurer Great Eastern said on Feb 14 that it will provide a support package worth $1 million to help policyholders. There’s also a separate $200,000 donation to the Courage Fund administered by the National Council of Social Services and Community Chest.

Great Eastern will give policyholders or their immediate family members who are hospitalised because of the virus, a daily cash benefit of $200 for up to 60 days. If they die, a lump sum of $20,000 will be given.

For its travel insurance customers, Great Eastern is also offering a full premium refund for those who have purchased policies from Feb 6 to June 30 2020 should they decide to cancel their plans.

“With our support package, we want to give our customers peace of mind when they seek medical treatment, so that they can focus on recovery with less worry, in the event the unforeseen occurs,” said group CEO Khor Hock Seng.

OCBC
OCBC Bank did not specify a value to the relief package to it plans to offer its customers – for there won’t be one. “We will not put a cap on the help that we will extend to our customers,” says OCBC’s group CEO Samuel Tsien.

“This COVID-19 outbreak is unfortunate and unanticipated. It is our banking and social responsibility to support our customers to help them overcome this market challenge which is not of their own making,” he says.

“We will help each of our customers as the case may justify and not on a first-come, first-serve basis,” he adds.

Some of the measures to be taken by OCBC includes allowing customers to restructure their loans, including home mortgages and business loans; providing a moratorium on principal repayment for loans, including home mortgages and business loans; extending the due date of the affected business’ trade finance bills and extending bridging loans in the form of additional working capital financing to affected businesses.

ComfortDelGro
ComfortDelGro Taxi will be matching the government dollar-for-dollar via a relief package that is being given to cabbies.

They will receive rental rebates of $900 over the next three months, on top of the savings worth $900 which the Government has just announced.
The total relief package for more than ComfortDelGro’s 10,000 taxis amount to $1,800 per cab, or more than $18 million in total over the next three months.

The company is encourage cabbies to share the rebate with their relief drivers.

“We know that it is a challenging time for our cabbies and are keenly aware of the impact it has had on our cabbies,” says Ang Wei Neng, CEO of ComfortDelGro Taxi.

DBS

DBS on Feb 13 announced a range of liquidity relief measures and other schemes to help businesses, retail customers and communities.
"We hope that these small gestures will go a long way in encouraging the community to press on," says DBS Singapore Country Head Shee Tse Koon.
For example, DBS will provide a six-month principal repayment moratorium for SME customers' property loans. The bank will also offer an extension of import facilities of up to 60 days to act as immediate cashflow support. DBS clients with good repayment histories can apply to enjoy these relief measures.
For retail consumers with good repayment histories, they can apply for their own version of a six-month principal repayment moratorium for their mortgages.
DBS is partnering tuition centre 88Tuition to provide unlimited online supplementary lessons for primary and secondary students from Feb 17 to April 30, so that students can continue to have access to classes even if they need to stay away from school.

CapitaLand

On Feb 13, CapitaLand announced a set of aid and measures for Singapore. The property giant has pledged $300,000 to Community Chest’s The Courage Fund
The company will also support its tenants who take up more than 3,500 stores across its malls in Singapore with a $10 million marketing assistance programme. The tenants are allowed the flexibility of reducing their operating hours, as well as “customised support” based on their specific needs.
“We are cognisant that we will succeed only when our retailers do,” says Jason Leow, CapitaLand’s president, Singapore and International.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and stand ready to offer more support. CapitaLand and our retail partners have overcome past economic downturns brought on by severe acute respiratory syndrome and the global financial crisis,” says Chris Chong, managing director, retail, CapitaLand Singapore.

CIMB Singapore
On Feb 11, CIMB Bank Singapore announced that it will help make more working capital financing support available. Specifically, it will bump up its e-Supply Chain Financing program with a limit of up to $100 million. This move will benefit suppliers that are on board this platform.

Companies that are using this platform include NTUC, Singtel, SATS, SIA and SRC.

“We are here to fill the gap and make financing solutions available conveniently to ease the liquidity requirement of businesses,” said Mr Victor Lee, CEO of CIMB Bank Singapore.

In addition, CIMB Consumer Banking will consider requests from customers who want to reschedule their loans or financing as a result of the outbreak, subject to terms and conditions.

China Life Insurance (Singapore)
China Life Insurance (Singapore), a local unit of China’s insurance market leader, on Feb 10 announced a series of financial support for both customers and employees if they are affected by the Covid-19.

“We are doing what we need to do to take care of our customers, of which over 90% are Singapore residents, as they have placed their trust to insure with us,” said Lin Xiangyang, China Life Insurance Singapore’s CEO.

If a policy holder is diagnosed with the virus and placed under quarantine, he or she will receive a lump sum payment of $800; if hospitalisation is required, there will be an additional daily benefit of $130 for up to 60 days. If the policyholder die from the virus, China Life Insurance Singapore will pay $80,000.

CapitaLand
On Feb 7, CapitaLand, which has significant exposure to China, said it has procured and provided RMB575,000 worth of medical supplies to three hospitals in Wuhan, where the Covid-19 was first reported.

For example, 40,000 surgical masks were dispatched from Guangzhou and the 500 barrels of disinfectant were bought in Liaoning. The medical supplies include 375,000 pairs of medical gloves as well. The fund used to buy the supplies were allocated from CapitaLand’s RMB10 million healthcare fund set up by the CapitaLand Hope Foundation.

“The strong ties built with the local authorities and aid groups over the years have facilitated CapitaLand’s corporate giving efforts in China,” said Lee Chee Koon, CapitaLand’s group CEO.

“In these trying times, we are heartened that our healthcare fund has been deployed effectively and efficiently to support communities in need. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our team in China in safeguarding the health of the local communities.”

ARA Asset Management, Straits Trading Company & JL Family Office
ARA, Straits and JLFO have come together to launch a $5 million SME Help Fund to assist local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to tide over the COVID-19 outbreak.

The fund, targeted to help local and viable SMEs who are facing temporary liquidity crunch in their business during this periodm will provide a low cost borrowing and quick access to funds for working capital.

SMEs can loan up to $50,000 for up to a period of six months at a preferential interest rate of 0.5% per month and this loan may be approved as fast as within 48 hours, upon receipt of all completed documents. Applications will start on Feb 15. Those interested may click here to apply.

"When the government raised the DORSCON to orange, Chew Gek Khim (executive chairman of Straits) and I spoke and agreed to help the SMEs in Singapore. We are Singaporeans and being responsible citizens, we want to help. And that's why we put together this $5 million fund to help the SMEs tide over this difficult period," said John Lim, CEO of ARA Group.

StarHub
On Feb 12, StarHub said it will offer SME customers free subscriptions to the softphone app, SmartUC Mobile, so that they are better equipped to work remotely. This cloud-based telephony service is free till Sept 1. With this app, users won't need to be in the office to make or receive their landline calls. They can also conveniently retrieve voicemail messages that are sent directly to their email inboxes.

"For the continuation of business in times of emergency, companies may need to arrange for their employees to work remotely. Seamless communication is therefore essential to ensure minimal disruption to business operations," said Charlie Chan, StarHub's Chief of Enterprise Business Group.

United Overseas Bank
UOB has allocated $3 billion to provide companies, especially SMEs, in Singapore with relief assistance to tide over the negative impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on their businesses. The bank’s relief measures aim to enable those affected companies, who have good track records and who have been servicing their repayments promptly, to have more flexibility in their cash flow management.

The measures include: allowing affected businesses to rework their principal repayments and to service only their loan interest for up to one year; extending up to one year working capital financing of up to S$5 million; and offering financing liquidity against mortgage security.

Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO of UOB says, “In these particularly trying times, the government, businesses and communities are doing their very best to overcome this immediate challenge. We at UOB want to play our part in our commitment to caring for our clients’ businesses.”

Grab
Grab will be piloting its new product, GrabCare, a dedicated round-the-clock, on-demand service to enable healthcare professionals to travel to and from hospitals seamlessly. With GrabCare, Grab aims to ease the burden of these healthcare professionals who may face increased difficulties in getting rides due to heightened public awareness of the CoVid-19 situation.

As part of a phased rollout, the new pilot service will start running on Friday (Feb 14) for healthcare professionals from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). Professionals from these locations who have signed up for the GrabCare service will be able to book a ride back home via the GrabCare icon within the Grab app. The service will subsequently be expanded to include rides from homes to hospitals, and widened to more participating hospitals.

Yee Wee Tang, Country Head of Grab Singapore, said: “The tireless work and unwavering dedication of our healthcare workers to treat and take care of patients have inspired us and many of our driver-partners to do more. GrabCare is our small contribution to rally the community together to support our fellow Singaporeans in times of need, and ensure healthcare workers get a stress-free and hassle-free ride daily.”

Fave
As consumers remain conscious of the possible crisis brought forth by the CoVid-19 outbreak, Fave has come up with a "Get Back Up" Programme as an initiative to help businesses boost sales through various solutions and combat this potential economic slowdown.

The programme supports businesses to focus on local consumers by enabling them to tap into Fave’s database of over two million users locally with no upfront cost. The programme is set to help impacted businesses to bring new customers and convert walk-in customers into regular customers through strategic customer loyalty programmes and marketing campaigns.

Companies interested to sign up for the "Get Back Up" programme can submit their interest here.