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Bank invests R50m in generators

BALANCE: Drawing money at an ATM is cheaper than in a bank, but be careful about which one you use. Pic: Marianne Pretorius. 3/5/06. © SUNDAY TIMES.
BALANCE: Drawing money at an ATM is cheaper than in a bank, but be careful about which one you use. Pic: Marianne Pretorius. 3/5/06. © SUNDAY TIMES.

Alfred Moselakgomo

Alfred Moselakgomo

First National Bank (FNB) will spend R50 million on standby electricity generators and uninterruptable power supplies at its branches nationwide.

Kabelo Monchusi, head of infrastructure management at FNB, said R15,5 million had already been spent on standby generators at 63 FNB branches across the country.

Monchusi said: "Another 32 generators will be installed from March at a cost of R8 million, putting FNB's total investment in generators at R24million by June."

He said the generators were gigantic machines, some about 1,8m high and wide enough to fill an office.

"They have an average output of 220kW and can keep a branch running, including air-conditioning, PCs, servers, routers and ATMs, which consume huge chunks of power," said Monchusi.

"The bank will install extra uninterruptable power supplies at 270 branches at a cost of R13,5million by June," he said.

An uninterruptable power supply enables a branch to shut down its IT system without losing data if there is a power cut. Whereas a standby generator switches on a few seconds after a power failure, an uninterruptable power supply kicks in immediately.

"Our Western Cape branches have 30 standby generators because that is where most of the power blackouts have occurred," Monchusi said.

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