Following the government’s ease of the 42-day lockdown that commenced on the 18th of June 2021 and ended on the 30th of July 2021, key sectors including the Banking industry among others have adjusted their operating hours as a result of the lockdown easing.
Commercial Banks, and other financial institutions across the country were forced to operate at half scale with select branches operating and a fraction of their staff so as to align with government’s efforts of curbing the pandemic spread, with majority encouraging their customers to utilize their digital banking platforms.
According to a notice issued by KCB Uganda on 3rd August 2021, the Bank adjusted its operating hours that is; Monday to Friday – 8:30am to 3:00pm and on Saturday, the bank will be opened from 9:00am to 2:00pm.
“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 for 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.”
Mr. Ssekyondwa further said, “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.”
“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,” Mr. Ssekyondwa concluded.