PostFinance participated in the Federal Council’s assistance programme: 17,353 business customers were granted a bridging loan of up to 500,000 francs quickly and easily in order to alleviate any liquidity and financing problems arising as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
On 17 March 2020, from one day to the next, all hair salons had to close: for Marcel Meyer, whose company BLUE BOX Distribution AG distributes hair care products, this was an unprecedented challenge. “We had to fear losing a large portion of our revenue in one fell swoop,” he recalls. The business owner applied for short-time working hours for his employees – and turned to PostFinance for a bridging loan. Marcel Meyer discussed the matter briefly on the phone with his customer advisor in the morning, spent half an hour filling out the application form and got the loan approval that afternoon. “Because we know our customers well, we were able to approve their applications quickly in most cases,” says Christian Ming. The PostFinance team had also put in a special effort, in a very short time, to ensure that the review procedures could be completed as quickly as possible – and all while working from home.
And what did it all mean for Marcel Meyer? “The loan from PostFinance gave us some sense of security in March that we would be able to weather this crisis for a few months and hold on to our 20 jobs. I’m grateful that both the Confederation and the banks have been so pro-business, and ultimately pro-society, in what they did.”