Marlborough’s Dalbar Inc., an independent auditor of financial institutions, has released a new study in which it reportedly found gaps in the ways banks approach COVID-19 safety.
The study, “COVID-19 Crisis: In Branch Spot Check Study,” was created using secret shoppers, according to a release from the company. It evaluated North American banks including Bank of America, BMO, Capital One, Chase, CIBC, Citibank, Fifth Third, PNC, RBC, Scotiabank, SunTrust, TD Bank, US Bank, and Wells Fargo. These banks combined operate over 33,000 branches across North America.
According to Dalbar, there were several gaps in safety found:
- Only tellers at Bank of America, Chase, and Citibank wore masks 100% of the time
- 19% of teller areas in the U.S. were cleaned between clients
- All banks fell short at promoting alternative banking channels during the crisis
Dalbar did not reveal in the release how many branches had been visited for the study.
