Several Bay Area banks and credit unions have temporarily closed some of their branches as cases of the omicron variant increase throughout the region and force workers to stay home.
Patelco Credit Union, which serves Bay Area residents from Marin County to Santa Clara County, reported via email to customers that the virus forced the credit union to close some of its branches and caused longer wait times for its call center.
While the credit union did not elaborate on which branches are currently closed due to staffing issues related to COVID-19, some of its locations in Campbell, Hayward, Lafayette, Milpitas, Novato, Oakland, Pleasanton and San Mateo are 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 most of their Bay Area branches remain open.
"Our temporarily closed locations will resume operations as soon as possible," a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement. "We regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers."
Spokespersons for other financial institutions in the greater Bay Area, including Provident Credit Union, Bay Federal Credit Union and San Francisco Fire Credit Union, did not follow up on inquiries about COVID-related staffing problems at their branches.
In separate statements, Chase, Wells Fargo and Patelco urged customers affected by the branch closures to use their respective online and mobile banking services.
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