Daily Briefing: 17,000 bank customers seek to defer mortgage payments; Zilingo lays off 5% of global workforce

And NetLink service suspension lifted, contractors step up COVID-19 safety measures.

From Property Guru:

Singapore saw more than 17,000 bank consumers applying to postpone their mortgage repayments.

The figure collated across seven major retail banks represents around 3% of total mortgage loans and about 2% of households with outstanding home loans.

At least 3,000 customers also applied for conversions of their outstanding balances in personal unsecured credit to term loans at a reduced interest rate, as offered on recent relief measures.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), along with other industry bodies, guided that all banks and finance firms must allow deferments from 6 April to the end of 2020 of either principal repayments or both interest and principal payments of qualifying mortgages.

This means interest will accrue on the deferred principal amount, although no interest will be imposed on the deferred interest payments.

Read more here. 

From DealStreetAsia:

Fashion startup Zilingo has trimmed its global workers by 5%, including about 30 people in the city-state, as it now focuses on core business plans in Asia and emerging markets, the company has confirmed.

Zilingo’s strategic direction is to focus on a sustainable ecosystem for retailers, manufacturers, and the entire supply chain network, said a company spokesperson.

Zilingo has embarked on business streamlining as it refocuses on Asia and emerging markets, whilst putting its US and Europe expansion on hold.

The company acts as an e-commerce platform allowing merchants to sell to end consumers in Southeast Asia. It has since branched into solving “upstream” problems in the fashion supply chain industry, including sourcing, software, data, and financing, and targeting five key areas: software, data science, financial service, sustainability, and compliance.

Read more here. 

From Channel News Asia:

NetLink Trust has been given permission to continue servicing homes and in-office premises, according to the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

NetLink's services were suspended last Friday after four employees of a contractor engaged by the fibre broadband operator tested positive for COVID-19.

IMDA added that NetLink has reminded its contractors to regularly sanitise their hands before and after jobs, as well as take extra care in cleaning up their work sites.

To provide additional assurance to the public and its workers, NetLink will require its workers to wear face shields where practical, in addition to face masks, said IMDA.

The authority added that NetLink would fulfil orders as quickly as it can, and will prioritise homes currently without broadband access and those that require urgent fault repairs.

Read more here.