Liberty Bank Contingency Planning – COVID 19

TBILISI(BPI)-Liberty Bank (the “Bank”) announces that it has introduced a number of measures aimed at ensuring health & safety of our colleagues and customers and minimizing disruptions to our business.

Liberty Bank is working in close coordination with the Government of Georgia and the National Bank of Georgia to ensure that the economic impact of covid-19 is mitigated and that the banking system continues to provide uninterrupted services to all segments of our population.

Liberty Bank’s absolute priority is to ensure health & safety of its stuff. Toward this end, some of the measures the Bank has implemented include:
 Introducing shifts in customer-facing areas to minimize health hazards for our colleagues;
 Providing our customer-facing colleagues with protection items such as disinfectants; masks; gloves; etc.;
 Disinfecting our branches and other working areas several times a day;
 Stepping up communications with customers with a view to maximizing the number of transactions via ATMs, pay-boxes, call centers and other remote channels.

As part of our business contingency planning, we have upgraded and successfully tested remote communications capabilities to ensure that our colleagues continue performing their duties from home. In addition, some of our colleagues responsible for critical back office functions, such as IT, have been moved to split locations.

In addition to the measures aimed at protecting health & safety of our colleagues, the Bank has taken several steps to ensure that our customers, both in retail and non-retail segments, have more flexibility in managing their finances and adjusting to changing business environment. Such steps include:
 Introducing three-month grace periods on principal and interest payments for individuals and legal entities;
 Cancelling commissions related to utilities’ payments via remote channels for three-month period;
 Extending the validity of social cards by three months.

Vasil Khodeli, CEO of Liberty Bank, said: “Our human capital is our most valuable asset and the Bank will continue doing its utmost to ensure the health & safety of our staff. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to our colleagues who continue working in our branches ensuring that all of our customers, including pensioners and social welfare recipients, receive banking services in uninterrupted fashion. These are challenging times but I am confident that, in close cooperation with the Government of Georgia, National Bank of Georgia and other stakeholders, we will mitigate the adverse impact of the virus and get through the crisis better and stronger”.

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