Two more big banks extend service hours
Two large banks will follow HSBC's lead and extend business hours on weekends from September.
Bank of East Asia will extend opening hours of most branches on Saturdays and some branches will remain open on Sundays, while Hang Seng Bank plans to launch a trial of extended service hours.
HSBC announced last week that it would open 10 branches on Sundays and extend opening hours of 50 branches on Saturdays when it introduced a five-day working week in September.
BEA yesterday said it would extend the opening hours of 79 branches and 30 Supreme Gold centres - which target wealthier clients - from 9am to 5pm on Saturdays from September, offering most counter services except cheque clearing.
On Sundays, the bank will open branches in high traffic areas from 1pm to 4.30pm, providing banking and wealth management services.
BEA has not yet decided whether to introduce a five-day working week for its staff, but Chan Kay-cheung, the bank's executive director and deputy chief executive, said this was the trend.
David Li Kwok-po, BEA's chairman and chief executive, said the bank would hire about 180 staff to cover the longer service hours.
The bank has 117 branches and wealth management centres and about 3,400 staff working in Hong Kong.
William Leung Wing-cheung, Hang Seng Bank's general manager for personal financial services and wealth management, said the bank would launch a pilot scheme in September, extending service hours of some of its branches on Saturdays and opening some on Sundays.
'We want to see the response first before a final decision is made on extending the service hours and on the implementation date for the five-day working week,' Mr Leung said.
