A five-day work week isn't enough for Swiss banks swamped with loan applications. The government is lifting a ban on working Sundays or holidays.
The coronavirus pandemic is going to cost put the kibosh on Switzerland's traditional «day of rest,» when shops, offices, and many restaurants are closed – at least for bankers processing applications for small business loans.
The Swiss government is temporarily lifting a ban on Sunday and holiday work in order to allow bankers involved in processing small business loan applications to get to work, a banking lobby group said in a statement on Friday. This follows a government-backed loan facility which began on Thursday.
Thirty-Minute Loan Process
Lenders can ask employees to work six days a week to help process the massive demand for emergency loans until April 15 and make them go to work on two Sundays or holidays – including the Easter holiday, traditionally a four-day weekend. The government will back small business loans at zero percent interest as part of an economic shore-up.
Swiss banks were flooded with 3,000 loan applications in the first four hours of the facility, according to Swiss daily «Neue Zuercher Zeitung» (behind paywall, in German). Zuercher Kantonalbank boss Martin Scholl said his goal is get loan approval down to 30 minutes.
