Bank Branches to Limit Occupancy to 10 People Starting Tomorrow... Social Distancing Measures Strengthened

Expansion of Partition Installation Within Counters, Maintaining 2m (Minimum 1.5m) Distance Between Consulting Customers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Starting from the 28th, the number of waiting customers inside bank branches will be limited to 10 or fewer.

The Korea Federation of Banks announced on the 27th that, in line with the government's 'Year-end and New Year Special Quarantine Strengthening Measures,' it will implement 'strengthened social distancing at bank branches' starting from the 28th.

This measure is a reinforcement targeting both the customer waiting areas (guest halls) and service areas (counters) within branches. In the waiting areas (guest halls), the number of waiting customers will be limited to 10 or fewer whenever possible, maintaining sufficient distance by seating customers with at least one seat apart. For customers who cannot enter due to the capacity limit, a 'customer waiting line' will be marked at the branch entrance, and guidance will be provided to ensure a distance of at least 2 meters between customers.

In the service areas (counters), the installation of partitions will be expanded to minimize the possibility of infection between customers and staff or among consulting customers. If installing partitions is difficult, a distance of at least 2 meters (minimum 1.5 meters) will be maintained between consulting customers. If sufficient distancing is not possible due to space constraints within the branch, the option of closing some counters will also be actively considered.

These measures are being implemented as part of 'strengthened quarantine' in consideration of the recent spread of COVID-19 and the potential increase in financial demand during the year-end and New Year period. Individual banks will maintain the basic principles but implement them flexibly according to the situation of each branch.

Kim Kwang-soo, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, stated, "This is a time when active participation from all members of society is necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19," and added, "We ask for your understanding as these unavoidable measures, such as limiting the number of customers in guest halls, may cause some inconvenience in using banks, and we encourage maximum use of non-face-to-face channels such as the internet."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.