How does the deferral work?

A deferral on your line of credit means interest payments are suspended for a defined period of time. During this time, interest still accumulates at the applicable rate, as set out in your Line of Credit Agreement, on the outstanding principal balance. If you have life and/or disability insurance on your line of credit, those premiums will continue to be debited from your payment account attached to your line of credit to maintain your coverage.

How does repayment work?

Payment of all interest accumulated during the deferral period will be due together with the next month's interest payment after the deferral period. How the actual repayment works depends on how you’ve set up your payment account to make your line of credit payments.

If your payment account is the same account as your line of credit, the repayment amount will be debited from that account and added to the outstanding balance of the line of credit. If you have a separate payment account set up, like your chequing account, the repayment amount will automatically be debited from this payment account attached to your line of credit.

The payment debit will take place on the last day in the month following the end of the deferral period. For example, if your deferral period ends in July, all accumulated interest owed plus interest accumulated during the month of August will be debited from your payment account on August 31.

Note: As outlined above, normally all interest accrued during the deferral period will be due with the next month's interest payment after the deferral period. We acknowledge this could be a challenge for you, and have developed alternative solutions based on each individual’s circumstances. Please reach out to see what solution might be the best fit for you.

What should you consider?

If there are insufficient funds in your payment account to cover the accumulated interest payment when it is due, your payment may not be processed and may become overdue. If this happens, your line of credit account will be flagged as delinquent (not in good standing), which may negatively impact your credit rating. A non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee may also be debited from your payment account.

Repayment strategies

If you are concerned about not having sufficient funds available at the time of repayment, please connect with us prior to the repayment date to explore more manageable options.

To help reduce the impact of increased interest costs, you are able to repay deferred payments at any time during the term of your line of credit without penalty, however be sure to connect with us directly (do not use ATB Personal web or app), so we can ensure your repayments are applied correctly.