YES Bank began full-fledged operations on Wednesday evening, but it seemed like just another normal evening at Mumbai’s Horniman Circle in Fort area. The usually busy business and shopping area, a stone’s throw from the RBI headquarters, bore a deserted look as many people stayed away due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Even the bank’s ATMs were lying vacant even as the moratorium imposed by the RBI was lifted at 6 pm. In contrast, the branch had a long queue of customers on March 6 after the RBI capped withdrawals at ₹50,000 per depositor. But on Wednesday evening, there were just bank officers working at the branch, while a security guard and police constable could be seen outside. The scene was similar in other branches in Mumbai, including Goregoan.

The big rush

YES Bank officials said they are expecting a rush of customers on Thursday. To meet with the expected rush, the bank has said it will open branches one hour earlier at 8:30 am between March 19 and 21.

“We have also extended banking hours across branches for our senior citizen customers between March 19 and March 27 from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm,” it said.

With the lifting of the moratorium, the bank can once again advance loans and customers can carry out normal transactions without any cap. “We are fully prepared for customers tomorrow, and we expect to see a big rush. Some customers may want to shift accounts. The status of loan applications is another big query that we expect. But most customers have been cooperative,” said an executive with another bank branch in Mumbai.

Police presence at the branches is also expected to be beefed up to regulate crowds.

Though the physical branches were deserted, customers tried to transact online. Many YES Bank customers said on Twitter that the bank’s UPI, net, mobile banking and credit card services were not working even after the moratorium was lifted as it faced heavy traffic. “Hi, apologies for the inconvenience caused. We are facing intermittent issues. Request you to please try after some time,” the bank’s Twitter handle responded to many such customers.

Customers also reported on Twitter that they were unable to withdraw money from other bank ATMs. Sources said the bank had been gearing up to meet the increased web and mobile traffic. The bank’s systems were down between 3:30 pm and 6 pm as it was updating its systems to be able to return with full banking services.

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