Five-day clearing confuses customers
Customers expressed frustration yesterday about cuts in banks' over-the-counter services on the first Saturday since the introduction of five-day clearing.
Many were confused by the new arrangement, under which some bank branches close and others have extended their opening hours but without offering clearing services.
The city's banks agreed to unify their handling of cheques after the introduction of five-day clearing by freezing the processing of cheques - including those issued by themselves - on non-clearing days.
A group of Democratic Party district councillors went to the Kwai Fong branch of HSBC to protest at the bank's decision to open only 50 branches on Saturdays instead of 114, as it initially planned.
Their spokesman, Chan Yuen-sum, said the closure of some of the branches meant people had to travel to neighbouring districts for over-the-counter services.
'For example, in Lei Muk Shue estate many elderly people and residents will have to take buses and minibuses to get here, and to do that they will have to wait at least 30 minutes,' he said.
In Mongkok, members of the Hong Kong Banking Employees' Association handed out fliers to voice their anger at the banks' 'five-day-clearing, seven-day-opening' arrangement.
They said many workers now had to work longer hours, which affected their family life.
'We are not happy that some senior bank executives have covered their eyes and said their workers have not complained. In reality, we have collected about 3,200 complaints in the past two weeks,' its chairwoman, Lee Lai-ching, said.
The association said about 2,000 bank workers were affected by the new arrangement. It plans to meet the banks to discuss the issue.
