The menace of visiting banks amid COVID-19

BY OLUSANYA ANJORIN

The nation’s lenders are sufficiently integrated with the society and cannot be separated from other sectors like marketplace, shops, pharmacies and other essential service providers where adequate protection is immensely necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Presidential Task Force and the Central Bank of Nigeria has amply stressed the guidelines for banks to adhere to in line with the advisory of the World Health Organization (WHO) before reopening, some of these guidelines include:

Observance of social distancing, disinfectant of all banks’ branches throughout the country, opening within the stipulated time, limiting the number of customers to be granted access into the banking halls per time, all customers and staffs must undergo temperature screening and must use hand sanitizers that are provided before they can gain entrance into the banking hall.

At a time when the coronavirus crisis crawled to Nigeria, banks were alternating the number of days they work but at some point when the cases started hitting fast, there was no doubting the fact that the banking sector must remain shut with skeletal services provided. Few Months after the ease of lockdowns, banks are still flooded like the OYINGBO market. A visit to some branches of Gtbank Plc as early as 5.o-clock in the morning, would greet you with a mammoth crowd lined up like soldier ants looking for food.

At the moment of writing this article, investigations revealed many Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) branches have not been reopened. This has made customers go through hell to transact with this bank. It will interest readers to know that if you have anything to do with this bank in mostly Lagos suburbs, you must be ready to spend between four to six hours standing.

If customers wait and observe the rules as stipulated by the authority concerns, there will not be fighting, pushing and shoving before they can gain entry into the bank. The masses are concerned that banks are playing with the health of its customers, helping to exacerbate the virus they are supposed to protect.

Yes, many uncertainties surround the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing is clear: this crisis affects all people, no matter their nationality, race, age, gender, or socioeconomic status, the best thing to do is to avoid it.

Today the percentage of digital transactions has risen, with COVID-19 causing unforeseen disruption, Some banks acted swiftly in anticipation of the lockdown, setting up infrastructure within employees’ homes to allow them to continue critical operations remotely while others services were adversely affected as a result of not being very proactive.

From the above facts, it has become imperative for the CBN to act to avoid astronomical increase of COVID-19 cases in Lagos. What would a concerned citizen suggest?

That bank should open their branches nationwide to reduce the queue in the bank. That the open hours of banks should return to 8.a.m. to 4.p.m. That the curfew must be reviewed by the FG to achieve the above point. That bank can innovate and extend low-cost services digitally to customers. Any bank that excels on this will have an enviable customer base when the economy recovers fully.
By and large, banks should continue to innovate to find ways to serve their customers through digital and mobile money platforms, this will hugely reduce banks’ cost and they will be able to reassure their customers that they care for them and have their best interests at heart.

In conclusion, if we must limit the spread of the virus, we must intensify efforts across the board. The Central Bank of Nigeria should revisit the protocol on banking services and mandate banks to open all their branches, this will allay the fear of customers who felt that some of these banks have liquidity problems and what they are after is purely profitability pushing corporate responsibility to the background which include the health and safety of their customers, staff and the community at large

Olusanya Anjorin writes from Lagos

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