DBS Bank (Hong Kong), the Singapore-based lender, will extend the business hours at all its 59 branches on weekdays from September, but the bank will not follow its rivals in extending opening hours at weekends.
Sunny Cheung, head of consumer banking at DBS, said all the branches would stay open an extra hour on Mondays to Fridays from September - from 9am to 6pm - and would continue to provide a full range of banking services. Opening hours on Saturday would remain from 9am to 1pm.
Meanwhile, the cut-off time for cheque deposits at branches in Hong Kong Island would also be extended to 6pm and funds will be available to customers after 3pm the next day.
'We have to strike a balance between the needs of our customers and staff, and to maintain our competitiveness. I think this option will the best one,' he said.
'The total opening hours of our branches will be 49 hours a week, still longer than other banks which will extend their opening hours on weekends.'
Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of East Asia and HSBC have said they will open some branches on Sundays and extend opening hours at selected branches on Saturdays after implementation of the five-day clearing week in September.