TWO MORE BANKS ANNOUNCE LONGER OPENING HOURS...

National Bank of Kenya and Family Bank are the latest banks to announce extended operating hours in certain localities in Nairobi, a move that many other banks could soon emulate.

Banks are increasingly extending operating hours in what could eventually see them operate round the clock.

As the economy continues to grow and the lifestyles of more people changing and the middle class growing, the customer is the new king, pushing banks to adjust their operating hours.

DEMANDING CLIENTELE

“This is an issue of consumer demand. Customers are now becoming more and more demanding.

They want to do banking at their own convenience and banks have had to adjust,” says Kenyan Bankers Association chief executive officer Habil Olaka.

National Bank of Kenya and Family Bank are the latest to announce extended operating hours in certain localities in Nairobi, a move that many other banks could soon emulate.

“We now offer extended banking hours (8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm on Saturday in Kilimani, Kenyatta Avenue and Family Bank Towers Retail,” Family Bank announced last Friday.

Many banks including Barclays, Standard Chartered, Diamond Trust, NIC, Bank of Africa, African Banking Corporation and NIC now operate from between 7am and 8pm. They also operate at extended hours during weekends and holidays.

In the 1990s, many commercial banks operated within a limited timeframe of the day, opening their doors to the banking public at 9 am and closing at 2 pm.

EXTENDED BANKING HOURS

Operating time later evolved to between 9 am to 4 pm as competition gathered steam over the last decade. Then, the lenders began operating from 8 pm to 5 pm in a bid to woo more customers into the banking halls.

The hours of operation later increased from 8 am to 6 pm, and later to 8 pm to cater to the changing banking trends in the country amid intensive competition and growing economy.

Mr Olaka noted that the level of economic activity is changing rapidly with more and more people not only working late into the night but also shopping at night, a trend that banks, pharmacies and even supermarkets are keen to follow.

Many banks including Barclays, Standard Chartered, Diamond Trust, NIC, Bank of Africa, African Banking Corporation and NIC now operate from between 7a.m and 8.pm. They also operate at extended hours during weekends and holidays in line with working, business and shopping trends of customers.

Barclays Bank’s chief executive officer Jeremy Awori argues that in extending its hours of operation, the bank is responding to the needs of its customers in a changing environment, which has seen economic trends changing and new malls coming up pushing them to operate at late into the night.

“We are realigning our operations in line with the changing business environment in particular areas, namely, the ports which operate for 24 hours and in shopping malls,” Mr. Awori said in an interview.

This is however, notwithstanding increased cases of insecurity at night and additional operating costs that banks have to navigate.