KARACHI – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has taken remedial measures to ensure payments to pensioners and provision of banking services to the general public on Eid.
A statement issued by the country’s central bank on Saturday said that the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) had experienced unanticipated technical difficulties in their operating system while processing extraordinary cash withdrawals on Eid ul Fitr and countrywide monthly pension disbursements.
The statement said that the customers of the Bank had to face difficulties in availing banking services at several locations in the country.
It further pointed out that the State Bank of Pakistan had taken immediate remedial measures with the concerned Bank to ensure uninterrupted provision of banking services to the general public, particularly pensioners. The operations of National Bank have now been restored and it is providing services to pensioners, the statement added.
The National Bank of Pakistan has also been instructed to keep all their branches open to make disbursements to the visiting pensioners/customers during late hours. Also, all banks including NBP have been instructed to ensure that all their ATMs remain functional and disburse cash through the Eid break.
Earlier, the SBP had issued special instructions for the opening of all bank branches on Saturdays (2nd and 9th July). Banks were also advised to ensure the uninterrupted availability of ATM machines across the country, and for this purpose State Bank has provided an abundant supply of money to stock at ATMs.
The ATM sites of commercial banks will also be examined by inspectors of State Bank and verification teams of SBP-BSC field offices during the period 1st July 2016 till 10th July 2016 to verify their operational status.
