New Delhi, Aug 7 - A strike by over a million employees of 25 state-run banks hit both individual and corporate customers Friday, the second day of the two-day strike over wages and pensions.

While bank managements tried to keep automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country supplied with cash, cheques were not being cleared, delaying payments all around.

'Eighty-five percent of the bank branches have reported closed. It's difficult to quantify how much business has been affected, but there will be hardship for the people,' said K. Unnikrishnan, senior vice president and deputy chief executive of the Indian Bank Association (IBA), a body representing bank managements.

'Cheques will be cleared on Saturday but the remittances will happen only by Tuesday. However, online remittances are on, which will help reduce the impact of the disruption,' Unnikrishnan told IANS.

People were inconvenienced across the country with hundreds of ATMs getting closed. A handful that were open, such as in Kolkata, did not have cash.

'I badly needed some money today. But I found all ATMs closed. I am now desperately calling up friends for cash,' said Sumit Majumdar, a Kolkata-based real estate promoter.

Echoed Mohammad Akil Akhtar, a resident of the same city: 'This is bad. ATMs are needed for emergencies. How can they close them down just to arm twist the government into raising their salaries?'

In Bangalore, banking operations, especially transactions have virtually halted, with majority of ATMs running out of cash since Thursday evening.