FSC, FSS, banking association aim to restore pre-pandemic bank operation hours

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun, left, speaks with employees of KB Kookmin Bank at one of the bank's branches in Seoul, Jan. 5. Yonhap

Consumers increase complaints over shortened bank operation hours

By Anna J. Park

Aiming to minimize customer inconvenience, the heads of financial authorities and the local bank association plan to normalize the country's bank operation hours to pre-pandemic standards.

Since July 2021, banks nationwide have been operating from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which is an hour shorter than their previous operating hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. before the pandemic.

According to the banking industry this week, the Korean Financial Industry Union (KFIU) and the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) will launch a taskforce to discuss the normalization of local bank operation hours.

Originally, banks and the financial workers' union agreed to start discussing whether to restore the pre-pandemic operating hours once the country's mandatory indoor mask rule is completely ended. Yet, the discussion has to begin before mask rule is lifted, as it is still uncertain when that will be. In addition, customers' growing complaints over the shortened bank operation hours have led the financial authorities to pressure banks to restore their operation hours.

“While it was fully understandable that banks decided to shorten their operation hours to fight the pandemic, restoring the pre-pandemic operating hours would now be measuring up to customers' expectations, given that the pandemic situation is stabilizing,” Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said last Thursday during his visit to a local bank branch in Seoul.

“Normalizing the bank operation hours will not only resolve customer inconvenience, but will also contribute to improved public awareness of banks as a service provider,” he added. “Banks could earn public trust and sustainable transactions from them, if they provide what customers want.”

Supporting the FSC chief's message, Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun also urged banks to normalize their operating hours.

“Amid the public's inconvenience over the shortened bank operation hours, the FSS called on the banking federation and the financial union to smoothly reach an agreement to normalize bank operation hours as soon as possible,” he said during Tuesday's executive meeting.

Responding to the messages from the top financial regulators, KFB head Kim Gwang-soo said the banking federation will discuss the normalization of operating hours with the union.

“The banking federation will discuss the normalization of bank operation hours to stimulate economic vitality,” he said.

It is expected that the banking association and the financial industry union will decide the specifics of when and how the normalization of bank hours will be conducted.