KARACHI - National Bank of Pakistan Saturday experienced unanticipated technical difficulties in its operating system while catering to extraordinary demand for cash on the occasion of Eid ul Fitr and countrywide monthly pension disbursements. Customers of the bank had to face difficulties in availing banking services at several locations in the country.

The State Bank of Pakistan took immediate remedial measures to ensure uninterrupted provision of banking services to the general public, particularly the pensioners. The operations of National Bank were later restored and it provided services to the pensioners, said a spokesman of central bank.

Further, National Bank of Pakistan was also instructed to keep all their branches open to make disbursements to the visiting pensioners/customers till late hours. Also, all banks including NBP have been instructed to ensure that all their ATMs remain functional and disburse cash, the spokesman added.

This year, SBP has made elaborate efforts to ensure availability of banking services to the general public. These measures are aimed at providing hassle free financial services to the general public during Ramazan, forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr and the extended holidays. In this regard, SBP had issued special instructions for the opening of all bank branches on Saturdays (2nd and 9th July).

Banks were also advised to ensure the uninterrupted availability of ATM services across the country, and for this purpose State Bank has provided unprecedentedly abundant amount of cash for onward provision to general public through ATMs.

The ATM sites of commercial banks will be examined by inspectors of State Bank and verification teams of SBP-BSC field offices during the period 1st July 2016 till 10th July 2016 to verify their operational status, he concluded.