Consumer finance company Wisr has granted COVID-19 loan deferrals on A$10.3 million of loans, representing 6.7 per cent of its portfolio value.

Wisr said customer support requests are back to pre-COVID levels.

The company said that it has been in contact with customers on deferral arrangements and expects just over half will return to normal repayments at the end of the deferral period, or earlier.

Wisr chief executive Anthony Nantes said in a statement: “These loan deferral rates compare favourably with industry-wide deferral rates for residential mortgages, at 10.2 per cent, and SME loans, at 14 per cent [both figures are taken from an East & Partners report].”

Wisr’s loan originations in May bounced back to pre-COVID levels. It originated $9.3 million of loans in April and $13.8 million in May.

It achieved this growth despite tightening its credit policy. In April, the company said it had designated a number of “high-risk industry sectors and employment types” and was limiting its exposure to those areas.

Hospitality, tourism, airlines, arts, entertainment, recreation, sports, events planning, catering and retail (clothing, footwear, homeware and accessories) were identified as areas likely to suffer a negative impact from COVID-19.

Nantes said the company had the support of its warehouse funders, which have agreed that arrears triggers will not be impacted by deferrals.