Greek pensioners started lining up as early as midnight in order to get their pensions from 1,000 bank branches that would be open on Wednesday to service them specifically.
The imposition of capital controls by the Greek government allows pensioners to withdraw only up to 120 euros for this week. On Tuesday, it was announced that 1,000 branches across the country would be open just to service pensioners.
In the early morning hours on Wednesday though, it was decided that pensioners would be serviced in alphabetical order, divided in three days through Friday. A through I will be serviced on Wednesday, K through M on Thursday and N through Ω (omega) on Friday.
The announcement caused the rage of those who were already in line before dawn and those whose names would have them waiting until Friday to receive their money. In the city of Patras, two pensioners fainted while waiting in line for hours.
Piraeus Bank decided they would service all names today by following the order of the line. In other banks, managers took the initiative to service the names in alphabetical order first and if there was time left, to then service other pensioners who were in line.
Along with the pension payments, banks will be issuing cash cards to pensioners who do not possess such cards.
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