ING Bank is closing more than half of its offices in an effort to fight the new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the bank said Wednesday evening. These provisions will remain in force "until further notice," a spokeswoman said.
In the 300 branches that remain open, a maximum of one customer is admitted per branch at a time.
In general, "the sector strongly encourages digital banking transactions whenever possible, thus avoiding the need to go to the bank branch."
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The ING network has 618 branches, less than half of which will be open on Thursday morning. The bank assures that "a careful distribution has been planned so that customers do not have to travel too far to reach a branch." The list of open offices is available on the ING website.
However, customers will only be able to access the open branches "between 9 a.m. and 12 noon and by appointment and only for strictly necessary and critical transactions such as money transfers that exceed the limit for digital transactions," ING states.
These provisions are also accompanied by other measures, including a maximum of one customer admitted per branch at the same time. When withdrawing money from external ATMs, "customers are expressly invited to keep the necessary distance." Indoors, "it is strongly recommended to avoid being in a branch with more than two people at the same time."
ING Bank has 7,500 employees, the vast majority of whom now work from home. Only those employees who work in one of the 300 branches that remain open and 160 employees who have to be present in one of the ING buildings continue to carry out their duties.
The Brussels Times
