No fewer than 30 States of Nigeria
are under lockdown be it partial or complete, as ordered by the government of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, to control the spread of the deadly COVID-19 that
is ravaging the world.
Amidst the partial and full
lockdown, the government exempted special force that should not be stopped from the operation. They are termed as essential services and
Banks which come under
essential services remained open, albeit with some restrictions to avoid the
spread of the virus and ensure safety during the pandemic.
Empressive Naija visited all
the banks across Lagos State and brings you report on how they all followed the
guidelines by the Federal Government as advised by the Ministry of Health and
the National Centre For Disease Control (NCDC).
Here is how some banks in
Nigeria carries out their services:
1) Provision of Essential
services: Banks carry out only essential services like cash deposit and
withdrawal, cheque clearances, remittances and government transactions. Although
the time of operation for the banks was reduced, most of the financial
institution worked around the time space to ensure customer’s satisfaction.
Each bank adopts the best option that suits the mode of operation that can
satisfy all customers.
2) Digital Banking encouraged: Federal
government has urged people to use digital payment modes such as Flutterwave,
Paystack, QUickteller, etc, from home, and avoid cash transactions to reduce
crowds at banks or ATMs. Some banks also advised customers to use electronic
payment options, instead of visiting branches to deposit or transfer money
through cash or cheques.
3) Selective Branches open: It
is also discovered that some banks selectively keep their branches open at such
locations they deem fit after due consultation with the local state
government/authorities to undertake the basic essential transactions. The
association asked the CEO of banks to authorize their regional or zonal or
circle heads to take suitable decision in this regard. Zenith Bank and Access
bank open some banks for ATM withdrawals only, giving enough social distance
for customers on queue.
4) Revised Bank timings: Bank
timings of UBA, Union Bank, GTBank and other large private sector banks have
been altered amid coronavirus outbreak. The branches of these banks will remain
open from 9a.m. to 3 p.m.. Online
Banking channels remain open 24*7 though.
5) Bank staff cut down: Most
banks operate with reduced staff at 5 - 25 % of their staff capacity which will
include frontline staff. This is done as crowds at banks are expected to go
down amidst lockdown. Bank staff at several banks are working on rotational
shifts to manage the situation.
6) Sanitizers, masks, gloves
mandated: Bank staff is strictly advised to maintain hygiene conditions and use
masks, sanitizers and gloves while carrying out banking operations to avoid any
contact or contamination with virus.
7) Care with Customers: Limited
numbers of customers are allowed inside a bank branch at a given point of time,
usually less than ten. Customers are asked to wear masks or tie a handkerchief
and sanitize their hands before entering the banks.
8) Crown Control: Various banks
adopted various styles for crowd control. While Access Bank made a queue box to
control social distance within the banking premises, Zenith bank adopts compiling
list of customers in order of arrival so to control entry and exit to avoid
overcrowding.
Customers are usually given
number tags and are to wait until the banking hall is spacious enough to accommodate
the next batch. Most Zenith bank branches made sheds for customer to sit and
wait until they are called to enter the bank, after their hands have been
sterilized.
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