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Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> has installed over 20,0000 acrylic
barriers across branches to prepare for more foot traffic as
shelter-in-place orders ease, spokesman Matt Card said. The bank
requires employees to wear masks, and has stockpiled enough so
that each employee receives one a day, he said.
Capital One Financial Corp <COF.N> is also installing barriers,
enhancing deep cleaning protocols, placing social-distance
markers for queuing and providing hand sanitizers and masks,
said spokeswoman Devon Gunn. It will also provide masks to
customers if they arrive without one, she added.
Banks struggled to equip their branches with sufficient supplies
at the outset of the crisis, when other essential workers with
more crucial jobs – including medical staff, grocery clerks and
delivery people – needed them more.
It has become easier to source these materials, executives and
suppliers said.
"Now we have a steady supply moving through all of our
branches," said JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> spokeswoman Anne
Pace. The largest U.S. bank is installing acrylic shields at
teller stations and cubicles in branches that lacked glass
barriers, she said.
Some banks and their employees got creative when supply-lines
were tight.
When masks were scarce in March, a group of volunteer Wells
Fargo & Co <WFC.N> employees sewed their own masks and shipped
them to colleagues still reporting to the office, according to a
bank spokeswoman.
The bank also had issues with cleaning supplies because its
orders were rerouted to healthcare workers, Chief Operating
Officer Scott Powell said in an interview. But as local
manufacturers increased production, the bank rebuilt inventory,
he said.
Citizens Financial Group Inc <CFG.N> ordered hand sanitizer in
bulk and divided supplies into mini containers after it could
not source the smaller bottles it typically bought, Head of
Commercial Banking Don McCree told Reuters.
Toms River, New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank has stockpiled a
few weeks' worth of PPE as it prepares to open more lobbies in
its branches, CEO Chris Maher said.
"We had to cast a wide net, through industry associations, to
all sorts of suppliers to source materials for us and frankly we
went to some of our customers."
(Reporting by Imani Moise and Anna Irrera; Additional reporting
by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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