Banks restrict entry of customers amidst corona fear

Most of the branches of leading banks restricted the entry of customers on Tuesday from a minimum of two to a maximum five to the bank at a time as a precautionary measures against the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Gatherings of customers were quite visible outside the branches of these banks throughout the day while most of the customers visited banks to make payments against their utility bills. However, there was a good number of customers visiting bank branches for business transactions.
Tahir Naeem, a security guard outside the Samanabad branch of Allied Bank, was carrying a bottle of sanitizer to sanitize the hands of customers before allowing them to enter the branch. He said the bank management has provided face masks, hand gloves and sanitizers to all the security guards as a precautionary measure.
According to him, he was not allowing more than five customers at a time to enter the branch for banking purposes. However, he added, that there was no restriction on the number of women inside the bank as it is difficult for them to stay outside the branch alongside the male customers.
Khurram Shahzad, branch manager of MCB Bank, said they are allowing two to three customers at a time to enter the branch. However, all of them are required to sanitize their hands with the sanitizer available at the front desk in the bank. He confirmed that the customers were also making business transactions besides paying their electricity bills.
Majority of the customers, standing outside the branches, were critical of the arrangement, saying there is no logic in restricting the number of customers inside the bank when they were waiting for their turn while standing close to each other outside the branch.
Meanwhile, all the branches are also carrying instructions for customers. MCB Bank has advised its valued customers to reduce the time spend in bank branches and public places, maintain social distance, properly wash hands with soap after handling cash/cheques. It has also announced waiving off transactional charges for self-service channels.
The HBL management has displayed in its branches that the staff is available to support its customers by providing ease of banking from the safety of their home. It has further advised to avoid cash holding and limit public interactions and has encouraged them to use HBL Mobile and Konnect App for all types of banking needs.