Working from home becomes part of the new norm

The flexibility of Arion Bank's services has certainly been put to the test in the last couple of months. At the height of the pandemic approximately 80% of Arion Bank employees were working from home, branches had restricted opening hours and customers of all ages were doing more of their banking digitally than ever before. One of the main focuses over the last few years has been on developing convenient digital solutions such as the Arion app and contactless payments, and this has certainly paid off.

Our customers responded positively to these necessary changes to the Bank's services, and working from home proved more effective for our employees than anyone could have hoped. We intend to build upon this experience. Working from home and online meetings proved so successful that the Bank has relocated jobs to the countryside which were previously thought could only be done at the headquarters. We have also accelerated the development of various other solutions, e.g. electronic signatures for retail and corporate customers, with the aim of making things easier and more convenient for our customers.

In light of the experience of the last few weeks, we have given our employees the option of working from home one day a week. This is part of the move to offer greater flexibility at work in accordance with the Bank’s human resources policy, which places great importance on maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Working from home also saves the valuable time people need to travel to and from work and reduces rush hour traffic. In turn this leads to a reduction in emissions from journeys by employees, which is one of the aims of the Bank’s environment and climate policy.