Banks extend working hours to serve customers during Tet

On the occasion of the Lunar New Year this year, the interbank payment system will extend its operating time by 1 hour.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank Dao Minh Tu said that to meet the payment needs of businesses and people during the Lunar New Year this year, the interbank payment system will extend its operating time by 1 hour.

According to Mr. Tu, people's demand for cash withdrawals increases during Tet because many businesses want to keep their employees working, so they wait until closer to Tet to pay salaries and bonuses. This further increases cash withdrawal transactions at banks, especially ATMs in industrial parks and densely populated areas.

Banks will extend their operating hours by one hour during Tet holiday.

Faced with that situation, the State Bank directed the State Bank branches in provinces and cities and the State Bank to absolutely not allow a shortage of cash to occur, leading to delays in payment, especially cash for social welfare beneficiaries, salary and bonus payments for officials and employees of agencies and enterprises.

At the same time, to avoid ATM congestion, the State Bank requires commercial banks to improve the quality of ATM services, ensure security and safety to protect ATMs. In addition, to reduce the load on ATMs and make it more convenient for people, banks need to be flexible and guide customers directly to branches and transaction offices to make payments and withdraw cash; agree with businesses to have a plan to pay salaries directly at the business, avoiding the situation of too many people gathering to withdraw money at ATMs.

Mr. Tu also said that a new point that the State Bank of Vietnam has implemented during this year's Tet holiday is to allow the interbank payment system to extend its operating hours by 1 hour after daily working hours to meet the payments of businesses and people.

For foreign currency payments by foreign-invested enterprises in industrial parks, export processing zones, import-export enterprises, etc. that plan to buy and sell in foreign currency with partners, during the 9-day Tet holiday, commercial banks must notify in advance, arrange staff on duty, and have a plan to support customers in making timely foreign currency payments, avoiding waiting, which affects business operations.

Along with that, to serve tourists who need to exchange foreign currency, the State Bank also requires commercial banks and locations licensed to trade foreign currency to serve customers normally throughout the Tet holiday./.

According to VOV