Bank Holidays

Banks are essential parts of our lives. Of course, we would never have those bucks in our wallets if the banks failed to process the request of our company to withdraw or transfer employees’ salary from their account. Do you think you will have a job right now if the bank failed to lend your employer the money to invest for a business, which you and other co-employees are paid to run? And imagine what would be the worth of your money if you go hit the grocery store or shopping mall only to find out nothing is there because the bank did not release the money, which is supposed to be used to deliver goods and services, because its service hours are over? So if we are to look closely everything that happened around us is channeled in a banking system where businessmen, workers, and investors among others get and save their money to make the world running. So it’s important to know what time and day to hit the bank to avail the services we need them to render to us.

Bank outlets normally render a six-hour service to the clients. Beyond that hours after they open, the bank is closed to take care of your concerns. Although some operates on a Saturday, banks generally are only open on weekdays. It’s closed on Sundays and definitely during bank holidays.

Bank holidays actually refer to public holidays. The term bank holiday is coined probably because banks are closed during holidays. Historically in the United States, a bank holiday is referred to as a Congressional call for emergency bank closure as a remedy for a fiscal crisis. The most prominent of this is the bank holiday in the 1930’s when Emergency Banking Act of 1933 was mandated calling all banks in the US to temporarily close until the fiscal crisis is resolved.

Today, banks close during public holidays as bankers and other workers are given the right to take a break from work appearing like some sort of labor incentive to the general workforce because they are still paid along with the holiday break they have. Some are also called to take a break from work to observe religious obligations in a given holiday such as Good Friday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day, among others.

Bank holidays differ from county to country depending on the public holiday approved by each government. The dominant religion, culture, and tradition in a given country also play an important role in determining bank holidays.

Bank holiday events in the United States include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King’s Day, George Washington’s Birthday every February 22nd, and President Day’s commemorating the presidency of Abraham Lincoln every 12th of February. A bank holiday is also observed on Federal Reserve Banks Day in the month of February.

Banks are also closed every last Monday of May to celebrate Memorial Day, which pays tribute to the armed services personnel of the US who were killed in wartime. Independence Day every 4th of July is also an official bank holiday.

Moreover, bank holidays are also observed during Labor Day every first Monday of September and Columbus Day every 2nd Monday of October. Veterans Day is also a bank holiday that commemorates the end of the First World War. Its date, however, varies from year to year.

So if you are planning to go to the back to make a very important transaction, plan it ahead in a way that it would not rest on a bank holiday. This will help you not miss a very important transaction at the same time save on your time and energy in going to the bank.