Businesses are Stepping Up and Leaning In Amid COVID-19

April 20, 2020|0 min read

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Amid the COVID-19 crisis businesses are finding ways to give back where and how they can to their customers, employees, and communities. Now is perhaps one of our nation’s most vulnerable times. According to Johns Hopkins University, as of April 14, there have been more than 500,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States and nearly two million people infected around the world.

Support and assistance, for people and businesses, is perhaps the most important thing in a time like this as the economy takes a downturn with many shops and offices closing their doors and people losing their jobs. We’re seeing businesses across every industry lean in and do their part to help — from offering higher pay and benefits to employees and waiving fees to extending special offers at no additional charge to customers. Now’s the time where certain businesses will rise up as leaders and help pull the economy out of dark times by doing everything they can to help the world at large. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best examples of organizations that are going above and beyond to give back to customers and communities nationwide.

How Organizations Are Lending a Helping Hand to Customers

We’ve seen businesses virtually in every industry do their part to pitch in and help. Here’s a list of businesses that are helping people through these turbulent times.

Central Pacific Bank is supporting local businesses by helping cover 10,000 meals and giving back $100,000 back to the community. They’re also waiving fees on some services, and encouraging customers to reach out if they have challenges paying loans or their mortgage.

Fifth Third Bank has a waiver program that ensures its customers and small business owners won’t be charged any fees for 90 days. They also have loan assistance for people experiencing financial challenges due to COVID-19.

Chase is donating $50 million to nonprofits to address current economic needs. They’re also waiving fees and extending payment due dates for cards, auto loans, and mortgages for customers impacted by COVID-19.

Key Bank is deferring payments for 90 days for borrowers that are experiencing financial difficulty. Similar to BBVA, the bank is waiving fees for CD withdrawals as well as for interest and principal payments for those who qualify.

Ally Bank stated that it will waive fees for overdrafts, excessive transactions, expediting checks and debit cards, broker-assisted trades, and paper statements without charge through July, 18, 2020. They’re also allowing customers to defer mortgage and auto loan payments for up to 120 days without late fees. The company is also pledging 3 million to help the communities.

Adobe is giving free access to their Creative Cloud desktop apps for higher education until May 31. They’re also offering “distance-learning resources” for teachers to help drive new ideas on learning in a virtual environment.

eBay is helping small retail businesses by introducing an accelerator program, called Up & Running. The program helps businesses get started for free without any selling fees for three months.

Verizon is automatically adding 15 GB of data across most of their plans. The company is also waiving activation and upgrade fees when you purchase through certain channels. They also wont charge late fees or terminate services for people that are having a hard time paying their bill due to COVID-19.

Unilever is donating the equivalent of 100 million in retail sales value of soap, sanitizer, food, and bleach. The company is also giving 500m of cash flow relief to support suppliers and customers across its value chain.

Google has stepped in to help small and medium-sized businesses in a big way, offering $800 million in aid, as well as $340 million in free ad space. The company is also looking for ways to help the health industry by making COVID-19 public datasets free to query. They’re also giving $20 million in Google Cloud credits to academic institutions that are actively looking for vaccines and ways to combat the virus.

David Gibbs, CEO of Yum Brands is forgoing his salary for 2020 to help fund its own locations as well as to employees and their families that have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Delta is waiving change fees for tickets and extending the ability to plan and rebook as needed. They’re also extending all applicable eCredits to May 2022.

Facebook has stepped in to help small businesses with$100 million in support of businesses that use its services. The company has also launched a COVID-19 Community Help hub that connects people impacted by the crisis with those who are able to help.

A lot of the movie and tv studios have stopped production, putting a lot of people out of work. Netflix has stepped in with $100 million for workers that have been affected by the freeze that halted work and production.

As the nation continues to navigate this challenging time, these companies, among many others, are doing their part to help employees keep their jobs, small businesses stay open, and communities get the supplies they need in an effort to sustain economic stability and avoid what could be a devastating downturn.

At MX, our mission is to make the world financially strong. To that end, we work with financial institutions to provide solutions that help them make the best use of their data, so they can really start to know their customers. In these trying times, MX wants to empower you to use your data to help identify at risk customers and create offers and products that help alleviate financial stress. Reach out today to learn more about how you can start using your data for good.

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