Freedom Bank offering $1,000 no-interest loans during coronavirus crisis
The Freedom Bank lobby. The bank announced Monday it would be offering $1,000 loans to folks in need due to the coronavirus.
Freedom Bank will start offering no-interest, unsecured six-month loans of up to $1,000 for folks in the Columbia Falls and Canyon areas that need emergency funds, bank President Don Bennett announced Monday morning.
The loans are intended for folks who need to make a rent payment or pay other bills while Congress works on an overall help package for Americans who are out of a job during the coronavirus crisis.
“We’re calling it, ‘bank on our community, neighbors helping neighbors,’” Bennett said.
He said the idea is to make a revolving loan fund, so people who can pay it back sooner should do so, so others will benefit.
The loans will also come with no application fees.
“We came up with it this morning,” Bennett said. “We’re just trusting people.”
Bennett said folks don’t have to be customers, but they should live in the greater Columbia Falls-Canyon-North Fork areas.
Right now the bank lobby is closed, so folks interested in the program can call the bank at 892-1776 for more information. A loan application can be completed by secure email or over the bank’s website, Bennett noted.