The Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) has called on Zambians to embrace digital banking and payment platforms as the country goes through the third wave of Covid-19. BAZ has announced the donation of K755,000 towards oxygen provisions.
The Association members have agreed to reduced banking hours for financial service providers due to escalating Covid-19 cases in the country.
According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, BAZ has since committed to ensuring that self-service digital banking platforms services continue to operate efficiently on a 24-hour basis.
BAZ said all the channels will remain open during this period to ensure clients continue accessing essential financial services.
“In respect of this, it has become imperative to elevate health and safety measures so that our various touch points especially branches do not become a conduit of transmission for Covid-19.
“Our earnest appeal is that clients should transact from the safety of their homes through digital channels, online or mobile banking and only visit the branches when absolutely necessary. We also pledge continuity in the operations of all our ATMs and Cash deposit Machines,” BAZ stated.
The Bankers said in recognising the acute shortage of oxygen in the country, the Association has partnered with the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) to procure 1,800 oxygen cylinders valued at K755,000.
“The quantity as advised by the Ministry of Health will greatly help in reducing the acute shortage of oxygen in Lusaka Hospitals for at least three months,” he said.
And BAZ Chief Executive Officer Leonard Mwanza the association in consultation with the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) temporarily revised the operating hours for all Financial Service Providers until further notice.
Mwanza said this is because the association had noticed the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases of bank staff and their families.
“We would like to advise that BAZ in consultation with BoZ has temporarily revised the operating hours in view of the escalating Covid-19 cases. We have noted that the frontline staff in various branches across the country have not been spared from the pandemic, and a good number of them are reporting sick.
“In order to protect our frontline staff and public, we decided to revise the operating hours. The new operating hours are as follows, 08:15 to 14: hours during weekdays, while weekends will start at 08:30 to 11:00 hours instead of 12 hours. These are the minimum operating hours,” he said.
Mwanza said that banks however are at liberty to extend the operating hours to the normal ones depending on how they assessed the health situation on the ground.
He has since urged the general public to embrace self-digital banking platforms as they will be operating on a 24-hour basis.
“We would like to encourage the general public to take note that the digital platform will remain operational on a 24 hour service, the self- service platforms include mobile money, deposits, ATMs, Point of Sale machines, and online banking platforms.
“So we would like to urge the general public to avoid congesting branches and exposing themselves to possible infections and utilize these platforms temporal period, these will remain efficient,” Mwanza added.
