Banks Keep Hong Kong Branches Shut

Five banks continued to demonstrate caution with 13 branches kept shut and hundreds of automatic teller machines still offline after a weekend of political unrest.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) kept five branches open on Tuesday after closing all but one of its 200 on Saturday. ICBC has kept four branches closed.

Bank customers are advised to use online banking or ATM services as far as possible, and check bank branches service status before visiting, said the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in a statement after revealing that 330 ATMs had been vandalized.

Recent spate of vandalism and arson attacks have seriously affected the use of banking services by the public. Any form of vandalism and violence should be condemned.

According to an SCMP report, banks declined to comment on cash lost but underlined that safe deposit boxes were unscathed.

Our customers’ assets, information and all safe deposit boxes remain safe upon evaluation. We would like to reiterate that the operation of the bank remains normal, with a strong financial position and ample liquidity said BOCHK in a statement. We reiterate that our banknote supply remains normal and have stepped up our efforts to replenish cash for ATMs where practicable.

The branches had been seriously damaged in the past few days, and are currently undertaking repair works, ICBC Asia said in another statement.

Upon inspection and evaluation, all safe deposit boxes of the bank, and the customers’ assets and information remain safe. The operation of the bank also remains normal, with a strong financial position and ample liquidity.