By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: After almost a month of closure due to the coronavirus, banks and remittance offices all over Kuwait have reopened with queues of customers. “We shall be strictly implementing the rules set by the ministry to maintain social distancing. [Customers] cannot transact with us without a facemask,” a remittance office manager said in Salmiya.

Customers were delighted by the Cabinet decision Monday to reopen financial service providers early including banks and money remittance offices, which were initially set to be operational by June 21.

“The decision to re-open was probably influenced by local banks because of the high demand from clients. Besides, they need to decide on the matter because some businesses are open, while the most important sector is closed. If some businesses are open, banks and financial institutions must be open too,” a bank manager told Kuwait Times on the condition of anonymity.

Some Filipinos in the queues were happy that banks and remittance offices were allowed to open earlier than planned. “My family is waiting for my remittance since April, but they closed the offices during the full lockdown, and during that time my salary wasn’t in my bank, so I was not able to send money. If they had waited to open on June 21, it’s already too late. I was very worried about that, so I thank Kuwait for reopening remittance offices early,” said Jose, who was in a queue at a remittance center in Salmiya’s old souq.

He said he could not send money through online apps because his remittance office, through which he sends money, doesn’t offer online services. “If I move to another remittance center, they will need all my documents and I will need to be at the branch. First time transaction online is not allowed without necessary documents and registration, and they couldn’t do this because remittance services were closed,” he said.

Another remittance customer in the queue yesterday said she urgently needed to send money home. “My family badly needs the cash. We are also under lockdown in the Philippines, but a member of a family can go to the market. They ran out of money and borrowed from our neighbor. At least this money will help them repay the amount and the remaining will help them until the end of the month,” she said.