Banks adjust operating hours following government’s ease of lockdown

Following the government’s ease of the 42-day lockdown that commenced on June 18, 2021 and ended on July 30, 2021, key sectors including the banking industry have adjusted their operating hours accordingly.

Commercial banks, and other financial institutions across the country were forced to operate on half scale with select branches operating and a fractions of their staff so as to align with government’s efforts of curbing the spread of Covid-19, with majority encouraging their customers to utilize their digital banking platforms.

A notice issued by KCB Uganda on 3^rd August 2021 states that the bank has adjusted its operating hours as follows; Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 3:00pm while the bank will be open from 9:00am to 2:00pm on Saturdays.

“The adjustments in our operating hours follows the easing of lockdown, and being allowed to operate with 20% of our staff,” noted Michael Ssenkyondwa, Head of Retail at KCB Uganda.

He added: “Our immediate response is as a result of the need for us to be agile especially in an industry as this which is fast-paced. The business environment therefore demands that we maximize value to the customer at every opportunity for customers who would prefer to visit the bank to access the services or those who would wish to utilize the digital platforms to conduct their day to day transactions.”

Ssekyondwa further mentioned, “Customers who make bulk deposits or withdraws in most cases prefer conducting the transactions physically especially for security reasons, hence easing of the lockdown will enable us to serve all our customers better. Some of the systems require technical input from our staff and operating at 20% creates the ideal environ for serving our customers and when they require the services.”

He added: “On the digital front, Mobile Banking, Online Banking, Cards Banking, ATM, and Agency banking have played a pivotal role for the bank as we extend real time banking services to our customers, since these channels of banking supports in the observation of the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Government and the Ministry of Health, not forgetting Bank of Uganda who is our regulator. The safety and wellbeing of our customers is key as well as all Ugandans, and being a responsive entity, we urge our customers to and the country to adhere to the SOPs even as they access our branches across the country.”