The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with the approval and consent of the Director General of Health Services and the Inspector General of Police has ordered licensed commercial banks and licensed specialised banks (licensed banks) to carry out essential banking services, strictly adhering to all safety measures and guidelines issued by the authorities in providing banking services, under ongoing travel restrictions during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Having observed the recent communications and notices published by licensed banks on the provision of banking services, CBSL has reiterated the need for all licensed banks to make arrangements to provide uninterrupted banking services, complying with the following:
Bank branches shall only be opened to provide essential services such as trade financing, treasury operations, clearing activities, payment of pensions and salaries, responding to other urgent requests and inquiries of customers;
Considering the staff health and safety when deploying them to serve in branches, the number of staff permitted to report to work in branches shall be limited to 15 per branch;
Staff shall report to work on a roster basis, or the branches shall only be opened on specified days taking note of specific requirements of customers of each branch ;
Branch Managers shall obtain prior approval of the nearest Police Station for the travel of the relevant staff; Further, licensed banks are required to: • Publish notices informing the general public how essential banking services can be obtained; • Take adequate measures to keep the banks’ customers informed of the contact details for obtaining essential banking services during this challenging period, including display of contact details of branch staff at the branch and Hot-line numbers considering the various preferred modes of transacting;
• Ensure that the customer inquiries are answered and resolved expeditiously; and
• Continue to facilitate banking services through electronic and digital channels and mobile banking vehicles.
The CBSL calls on the public to extend their cooperation to licensed banks by using online payment services and instruments for their day-to-day transactions to the extent possible and to contact the relevant bank branches only for obtaining the essential banking services during this challenging time.