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Leading Banks to Close Branches in Colombia During Visit by Pope Francis
Posted On September 5, 2017
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Three leading banks in Colombia — Bancolombia, Banco de Bogotá, and BBVA — have modified their hours this week due to the historic visit by Pope Francis. While the nation has been eagerly awaiting the pontiff’s arrival for months, the magnitude of his busy five-day trip throughout four cities in the country will also cause logistical complications for transportation in those locations.
The pope will arrive tomorrow, September 5, around 4 pm in Bogotá and then spend the following day in the capital. He will then move on to pass one day in each of Villavicencio (Friday), Medellín (Saturday), and Cartagena (Sunday) before departing.
In addition to bank branch closures, the U.S. Embassy will also shut down during Pope Francis’ time in the Colombian capital.
Bancolombia
Bancolombia will keep all of its Bogotá offices open and operating normally on Thursday. Two locations, however, will see reduced hours on Wednesday. Both its locations in Terminal de Carga Internacional and Centro Distrital will be open from 9 am to noon.
On Friday, in Villavicencio, Bancolombia will close the following offices all day:
- Villavicencio
- Catedral
- Primavera
- Unicentro Villavicencio
- Maizaro
- Viva Villavicencio
On Saturday, in Medellín, Bancolombia will close 11 of its 36 offices for the entire day. The closed offices will be:
- Avenida Junín
- La Playa
- Centro de pagos Guayabal
- Puerta del Río
- Coltabaco
- Camino real
- Teatro avenida
- Éxito Poblado
- Éxito Poblado 2
- San Diego
- Centro de Pagos Monterrey
Banco de Bogotá
On both Wednesday and Thursday, Banco de Bogotá will shutter its offices in Centro Comercial Gran Estación and Servicaja Autopista El Dorado.
On Thursday, while Pope Francis spends the entire day traveling throughout the capital, the following branches will be closed all day long:
- Carrera 24 N° 26 -01
- Ciudad Salitre
- Centro Administrativo CAN
- Centro Comercial Gran Estación
- Centro Empresarial Metropolitano Suramericana
- Carrera 10 Calle 17
- Calle 18
- Andes
- Oficina de Recaudos y Pago Bogotá Centro
- Parque Santander
- Ext. de caja Universidad Libre La Candelaria
- Las Aguas
- Avenida 19
- Ext. de caja Fondo de Cultura Económica
- Calle 63 Siete de Agosto
- Siete de Agosto
- Galerías
- Campin
- Barrio Modelo Norte
- Avenida Calle 68
- Ferias
BBVA
On Wednesday the following BBVA locations in Bogotá will close early, opening at 8:00 am and closing at 1:00 pm before the pope arrives in the capital:
- Aeropuerto Connecta
- Ciudad Salitre
- Banca Personal Avenida El Dorado
- Avenida El Dorado
- Gran América
On Thursday, BBVA will shut down nearly all its locations in the capital all day long. The only service points that will be open are those within Colseguros and the branches Calle 43, La Esmeralda, and Uniquince.
The same shutdown will apply on an even larger scale in Villavicencio on Friday and Medellín on Saturday. No BBVA locations will be open in either location on these two days.
U.S. Embassy Closed
In addition to the financial sector, the visit by Pope Francis will also disrupt diplomatic offices. Among others, the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá will be closed to the public begining at noon tomorrow (Wednesday) and be closed all day Thursday.
In case of an emergency, U.S. citizens can get in contact with their embassy by calling +57-1-275-4021.
Foreigners from other countries are encouraged to call their embassy to see if it will be open on both Wednesday and Thursday before trying to show up in person.
Photo credit: Jared Wade
