HSBC Bank Malta said in a statement that just after one month from the introduction of the euro as Malta’s national currency, its banking operations are now back to normal.

In preparation for this historical event the bank changed and enhanced its security measures considerably. By way of example a delayed time lock has been fitted on each bank vault as explained in the notices on display in every branch. Other confidential security measures have been taken that, in the interest of its staff and customers, cannot be divulged but which improve the safety of its staff and customers.

The euro changeover period resulted in thousands of customers visiting its banking halls in a relatively short period of time to deposit funds and exchange cash. During the changeover period HSBC handled close to e200 million worth of the new currency over its branch counters and through its ATM network. Concurrently, over Lm85 million worth of the physical legacy currency was collected and sent to the Central Bank.

This increased activity put considerable pressure on the branches, Cash Centre, Back Office Operations and IT systems. However, thanks to careful preparation and meticulous planning the Bank managed to handle the increased workload in a very smooth and efficient

manner.

Technology also played its part, as all HSBC ATMs were dispensing euro one minute into 2008, all EPOS machines successfully transacted in euro with no service downtime and all 24x7 systems were up and running in euro on the first day.

It is encouraging to see that all this hard work paid off and that the situation is now stable with practically everyone comfortably using the new euro currency, the bank said. The bank’s cash holdings have now reduced substantially and are operating below pre-euro levels.