Local banks will resume normal operating hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the first time in one and a half years after repeated demands from customers.

According to sources in the finance sector on Friday, banks have passed on related guidelines to their branches to get them prepared for the change in business hours.
This includes foreign-invested banks, banks based in the provinces outside of Seoul and savings banks.

Banks have been operating from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. since July 2021 when strict social distancing measures were in place amid the pandemic. But starting Monday when the indoor mask mandate becomes a recommendation, banks will return to their normal operating hours prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consumer groups have been critical of the banks persisting on its shortened operating hours while public life in general has returned to normal.