Empire Bank offers Skip-a-Payment for storm victims

Empire Bank is willing to help offset the storm’s expenses – the bank this week is sending Storm Relief Skip-a-Payment letters to about 7,000 of its installment loan customers.

Eligible customers are given the option to skip their next installment loan payment while they recover from the storm, an Empire news release said.

There is no fee for the service – available through March 31 – and using it will not affect a customer’s credit ratings. If a customer chooses to defer a payment, regular payments will resume the following month.