Indian banking usage going through changes in major ways to become compatible with practices in other countries and offer better work-life balance to the employees. Lots of buzz have been created regarding the bank holidays. According to the recent decision, soon, banks will work for 5 days. This means that banks all over the country would remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
A New 5-Day Banking Rule
As of now, the banks are open on first, third, and fifth Saturdays of any given month; the second and fourth Saturdays are holidays. Going by the new rule, banks will work full 5 days and remain closed on all Saturdays and Sundays. This will remove the hurdle leading to non-uniform holidays throughout the country, thus reducing the consumer’s difficulty.
Dates of Implementation
The exact date for implementation was notified to authorities and banks, which shall follow the 5-day working schedule thereafter. Customers are thus advised to make arrangements in advance as banking services in physical branches will not be available on weekends.
What Customers Should Know
With banks closing for 2 consecutive days every week, digital services like Mobile Banking, Internet Banking, ATM transactions, and UPI transactions will continue as usual. This means that customers can continue receiving important services any time during holidays.
However, those transactions that would require the physical presence of customers in branches baseline, wherein clearance of cheques, cash deposits above prescribed limits, and account-related enquiries have to be made within those 5-working days.
Benefits to Bank Employees
The move will have far-reaching benefits for employees in terms of giving them their due work-life balance and stress reduction. With additional holidays in place, productivity is expected to shoot up as employees will now turn up at work feeling happy and fresh. This step raises Indian banking to the level of international standards where a 5-day working week is seen as fairly normal.
Conclusion
When banks are proposed to work only 5 days in a week, we herald a faint glimmer of change in India. So customers will now have to tailor their schedules accordingly, but with digital services in place, most transactions are still going to be unaffected. So from the date of implementation, every Saturday and Sunday will be a bank holiday throughout the country.