Nine in the morning is the second office start and the hour at which the banking day becomes fully staffed. At the end of the month it matters more than usual, because salaries are transferred through the wage protection system around then and the exchange houses handling remittances see their heaviest traffic of the cycle.
It is also the standard opening for appointments that require an appointment — visa medicals, licensing counters, testing centres — and the first slot of the day is invariably the one people count towards, because it is the one that will not have slipped by an hour.
At the weekend nine o'clock is children's sport, swimming lessons and the start of the Saturday brunch traffic. The countdown resets every twenty-four hours, so it always runs to the next nine o'clock rather than to a named day.
Common questions
Why are the exchange houses busy at 9 am?
Because salary transfers land at the end of the month and the remittance counters see their heaviest traffic in the first hours of the banking day.
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