When the circuit breaker measures in Singapore were announced, we were assured again and again that essential services such as grocery stores, convenience stores and yes, banks would remain open.
But they didn’t say that all of them would remain open.
DBS / POSB Will Progressively Close 29 Outlets Despite Being An Essential Service
The coronavirus outbreak in Singapore has had a profound impact on businesses and retailers.
And it looks like even essential services like banks have had to adapt their operating hours accordingly.
Singapore’s largest bank, DBS will progressively close 29 DBS/POSB branches all over the island over the course of just one week.
This came after stricter circuit breaker safe distancing measures were implemented to combat the community spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
DBS put up a notice on its website on Monday night announcing that some affected branches will temporarily shut between 7 April and 14 April till 4 May.
Which Branches Are Affected
The Marina Bay Sands branch will be the first to close its doors on Tuesday, followed by its Newton, Square 2, Tampines East, White Sands, Jurong Point and Tanjong Pagar branches on 9 April.
On 13 April, branches that will be closed are located at Ngee Ann City, Woodlands West, Tampines One, Marine Parade, Seletar Mall, Alexandra, Holland Village, and Raffles Link.
The other 14 affected branches that will close on April 14 are located at Bishan, Raffles Place, South Bridge, Suntec City, Centrepoint, Yishun West, Bedok, Serangoon Garden, Compass One, Eastpoint, Westgate, Bukit Panjang, Jurong West and Yew Tee.
All DBS Treasures and DBS Treasures Private Client centres will also be closed from 9 April to 4 May.
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28 DBS/POSB branches Will Remain Open
There’s no need to rush to the nearest bank though because 28 DBS/POSb branches will remain open with regular banking hours.
But unless you belong to a “vulnerable group” you won’t get to access services in the first hour of the branch opening.
First Hour Reserved For Vulnerable Groups
The first hour of opening will be reserved for vulnerable groups of customers beginning 9 April which comprises of the elderly (aged 60 years and above), pregnant mothers and customers with disabilities.
Do note that the bank’s SMS Q service will not be available during this hour.
A DBS spokesperson who spoke to BT said, “In line with the stricter government guidelines to keep Singaporeans safe, we have sought to strike a balance between meeting customers’ needs and doing our part to safeguard the well-being of both branch staff and the public.”
He also encouraged customers to go digital and emphasised that there will still be many ATM machines to withdraw money from.
“We are mindful that banking is an essential service and the vast majority of DBS’ extensive network, including more than 2,000 cash disbursement touchpoints, remains fully available. At the same time, we strongly encourage our customers to go digital with our comprehensive suite of online and mobile banking services during this period, so we can focus on serving those in urgent need at branches and call centres,” he added.
OCBC Will Also Close Its Branches
OCBC also announced last Friday that it’ll close 22 of its Singapore branches from 9 April to 4 May.
For OCBC, 24 branches will stay open, including all 19 branches that offer banking services on Sunday.
UOB, on the other hand, said that it will inform the public by 7 April of its branch closures.
The closures are part of an industry-wide effort to minimise social interaction.
Maybank, HSBS, Citi and Standard Chartered have also announced that they would temporarily shut selected branches in Singapore from 9 April to 4 May.
However, there is really no reason to panic as the authorities have assured Singaporeans that the remaining branches that remain open must be well distributed across the country to meet their banking customers’ needs.
ATM services must also remain available.
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