National Bank of Pakistan Saturday experienced unanticipated technical difficulties in its operating system while catering to extraordinary demand for cash on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and countrywide monthly pension disbursements. Customers had to face difficulties in availing banking services at several locations in the country.
The State Bank of Pakistan has taken immediate remedial measures with the concerned bank to ensure uninterrupted provision of banking services to the general public, particularly the pensioners. The operations of National Bank have now been restored and it is providing its services to pensioners. Further, National Bank of Pakistan has also been instructed to keep all its branches open to make disbursements to the visiting pensioners/customers till late hours. Also, all banks including NBP have been instructed to ensure that all their ATMs remain functional and disburse cash through Eid break.
This year, SBP has made elaborate efforts to ensure availability of banking services to the general public. These measures are aimed at providing hassle-free financial services to the general public during Ramazan, forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr and the extended holidays. In this regard, SBP has issued special instructions for the opening of all bank branches on Saturdays (2nd and 9th July).
Banks have also been advised to ensure the uninterrupted availability of ATM machines across the country, and for this purpose State Bank has provided unprecedentedly abundant amount of cash for onward provision to general public through ATMs. The ATM sites of commercial banks will be examined by inspectors of State Bank and verification teams of SBP-BSC field offices during the period 1st July 2016 till 10th July 2016 to verify their operational status.-PR