Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun today (5th) ordered banks that are continuing to shorten business hours by 1 hour to normalize business hours due to the quarantine of Corona 19.



During a visit to the Namdaemun Financial Center of KB Kookmin Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul today, Chairman Kim said, "Recently, as the COVID-19 quarantine situation is normalized, restoring bank business hours to normal will be in line with public sentiment and expectations for banking."



He emphasized, "The normalization of bank business hours is of great significance not only in terms of relieving inconvenience in people's lives, but also in terms of raising awareness of banks as a service industry and normalizing abnormalities."



In July 2021, the bank shortened the business hours from '9:00 am to 4:00 pm' to '9:30 am to 3:30 pm' in response to the government's strengthening of social distancing.



Initially, it was decided to temporarily implement it only in the metropolitan area for 10 days, but when the distancing stage was strengthened, it was extended until 'before the obligation to wear indoor masks is lifted' by agreement between the bank's labor and management.



In addition, the implementation area was also expanded nationwide.



Banks have been continuing these shortened business hours so far despite easing quarantine measures such as the lifting of social distancing.



Chairman Kim pointed out, "The shortening of bank business hours through an agreement between labor and management was able to fully sympathize with the public and bank users in terms of preventing the spread of Corona 19, but the recent Corona 19 quarantine situation is normalizing."



"As there is a prospect that the economy may become difficult this year, we must overcome the crisis by joining forces with the people," he said. "The government is also normalizing various systems such as real estate regulations that have distorted economic activities so far."



In response, Kim Kwang-soo, president of the Korea Federation of Banks, replied, "I sympathize with the inconveniences of customers who have difficulties using banking services."



However, there are observations that restoring bank business hours may take a considerable amount of time until normalization is required as consultations between labor and management are required.



A nearby office worker customer A, who visited the store that day, also said, "I often use flexible stores because it is difficult to do banking business according to normal business hours."



A flexible store is a store that operates outside of the bank's normal business hours.



KB Kookmin Bank Namdaemun Financial Center operates from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.



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Chairman Kim said, "Efforts to improve accessibility to financial services in the banking sector are in their infancy, but they will be of considerable help in meeting various face-to-face demands."



In addition, Chairman Kim requested that various financial support programs provided by the financial sector, such as maturity extension, repayment deferment, and fresh start funds, be implemented without problems on the spot.



(Photo = Yonhap News)