Access, Wema Top COVID 19 Banks

By Fola James

The Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe need to do more to assure customers of the bank of protection against COVID 19, whenever they are in his bank to transact businesses.

This has become so in the face of the death of a staff of the bank in Onne, Rivers state, who just fell to the novel corona virus.

Recall that the Bank, on March 22, closed its Ligali Ayorinde branch in Victoria Island, Lagos over a customer who was COVID 19 positive.

Some customers have hit at the bank insisting that observance of safety protocols are not being strictly enforced at some of its branches in Lagos.

Worse still, the bank in a statement failed to mention the name of the employee, raising some very serious posers, watchers of the bank said, though its management said, it has directed all those had contact with the deceased to go into self isolation for two weeks.

Some Nigerians who spoke with the magazine said they are worried with the secrecy at which Access Bank has handled the matter, wondering what the bank stands to by keeping the identity of the employee secret.

“The bank prides itself as a one of the best Deposit Money Banks, DMBs in the country. To that extent, it should come clear on this issue. How do we, for instance, know those that have been in contact with this person, bearing in mind that contact tracing is cardinal to the NCDC in fighting this disease? If the management does not care about its staff, what about the customers who have met with the dead staff? a customer told the magazine at the bank’s Toyin branch this morning.

He stated that transparency is required to fight COVID 19 “anything secret is not good at this time, he said, adding that “one bank which recently lost its staff to the virus did not hide the name of the said employee because that’s the only way to help some of us that are still lucky.”

Full disclosure of the details of the deceased will also help in discovering, on time, new cases and prevent fatality, a health official with LASUTH said, adding that “there’s no point hiding the identity of someone who already died.”

Abdul Imoyo, the bank’s spokesperson told the magazine on Thursday that the bank did not mention the name of the employee in line with his family’s request.

But “Our thoughts and prayers are with our deceased colleague’s family at this time as we pray for his eternal rest.”

Colleagues and customers who had been in contact with the late employee have also been advised to self-isolate following guidelines provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC),” Access Bank said in the statement.

The bank noted that in line with the COVID-19 Business Continuity Plan, the branch, where the incident happened has been shut down for immediate disinfection, adding that it had deployed robust health and safety measures at all branches.

Access Bank further said it will henceforth ensure that face mask is mandatory for customers before they could be admitted to into its premises, mandatory temperature check, use of hand sanitizers and disinfection of teller counters, customer service tables, and observance of social distancing at all times.

Meanwhile, more than 50 employees of Wema bank Plc are believed to have been infected with the virus and now receiving treatment at various isolation centres in Lagos.

Also infected with the virus, are customers, who unfortunately had contact with the infected staff, reports say.

Lagos state has recently experienced spike in the number of infected persons and its isolation facilities have been stressed to the limit, sources told the magazine.

The situation, according to The Eagle Online report, has worsen as Wema Bank’s Regional Office in Lagos and some other branches have been worse hit with the outbreak of the deadly disease.

The online report, particularly mentioned Ikeja and Oba Akran Avenue branches as mostly affected with the outbreak.

Some customers of the bank told the magazine, on Thursday that, they are very wary of going to any branch of the bank to transact business, for fear of contracting the virus.

“I would rather do my transactions using their online platforms,” Bisi Adebajo said, adding that the bank “should do more to protect customers and staff because it’s fact becoming the epicenter of the virus among financial institutions in the country.”

Funmi Falola, Wema Bank Corporate Affairs Executive, lat, week said the management had directed two branches of the bank to be shut after it was discovered that some staff in those branches have contracted the virus.