By Eli Walsh | Bay City News Foundation
Several Bay Area banks and credit unions have temporarily closed some of their branches as cases of the omicron variant COVID-19 rise in the region and force workers to stay home.
Patelco Credit Union, which serves residents of the Bay Area from Marin County to Santa Clara County, said in an email to customers Thursday that the virus has forced the credit union to close some of its branches and resulted in longer wait times for its call center.
Although the credit union did not specify which branches are currently closed due to staffing issues related to COVID-19, some of its branches in Campbell, Hayward, Lafayette, Milpitas, Novato, Oakland, Pleasanton and San Mateo are all currently closed.
Major bankers Chase and Wells Fargo also reported temporary closures of some of their branches due to staffing shortages, although both banks noted that the majority of their Bay Area branches remain open.
“Our temporarily closed sites will resume operations as soon as possible,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are sorry to inconvenience customers who may be banking at one of our temporarily closed branches.”
Spokespersons for other financial institutions in the Greater Bay Area, including Provident Credit Union and San Francisco Fire Credit Union, did not respond to inquiries about COVID-related staffing issues at their branches. .
In separate statements, Chase, Wells Fargo and Patelco all urged customers affected by the branch closures to use their respective mobile and online banking services as needed.
