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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 COVID-19 variant increase in the region and force workers to stay home.
Patelco Credit Union, which serves bay area residents from Marin County to Santa Clara County, said in an email to customers on Thursday that the virus had forced the credit union to close some of its branches and resulted in longer wait times for its call center.
While the credit union has not specified which branches are currently closed due to staff 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 have also reported the temporary closure of some of their branches due to understaffing, although both banks noted that the majority of their branches in the Bay Area 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 disturb customers who may be banking at one of our temporarily closed branches.”
Spokesmen for other financial institutions in the Greater Bay Area, including Provident Credit Union, Bay Federal Credit Union, and San Francisco Fire Credit Union, have not responded to inquiries regarding staff issues related to COVID in the their branches.
In separate statements, Chase, Wells Fargo and Patelco all urged customers affected by branch closures to use their respective mobile and online banking services as needed.
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