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- Bank of America isn't closing its branches, call centers, or operations facilities, but it is offering pay bumps and in some cases reducing working hours, according to a company memo seen by Business Insider.
- Weekday branch hours have been cut back to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and employees can earn an additional $200 per pay period on top of their full weekly base pay.
- Call center and operations employees are eligible to earn twice their base pay for overtime.
- Banks are among the businesses governments have deemed essential to stay open during the public health crisis.
- While some have largely kept storefront branches open, others, like JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, have temporarily shuttered significant numbers of locations.
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As banks are reckoning with the spreading coronavirus pandemic, including in some cases shuttering branches, Bank of America told employees on Friday that its retail branches, call centers, and operations facilities will remain open, according to an internal company memo.
But the firm is also boosting pay and reducing hours for some of these front-line workers, the memo said.
While branches will continue operating, the bank is cutting hours to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the exception of Saturday, in part to facilitate necessary daily cleaning, according to the memo, which was seen by Business Insider. Financial center hours vary by location, but they're typically open at least 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Employees working in the firm's 4,300 financial centers around the country will receive an additional $200 per pay period, and they'll earn their full weekly pay, even if their hours have been cut, according to the memo.
The bank also said staff working its call centers and operations centers are eligible to earn twice their hourly base pay for overtime, versus the usual one-and-a-half times base pay.
A company spokesman confirmed the contents of the memo.
JPMorgan Chase has closed one-fifth of its branches and offered a one-time $1,000 bonus, paid in two installments, to employees still coming in to work on its front lines.
While most US businesses have ground to halt, banks' activity has only increased, as Americans prepare for life in quarantine, manage their portfolios amid the market upheaval, try to capture falling mortgage rates, or attempt borrow money to stay afloat amid massive layoffs and work reductions.
Bank of America has hired 1,700 new employees just in March, according to the memo.
Cities and states are increasingly instituting lockdown measures as coronavirus cases on Friday surpassed 15,000 in the US, and asking people to stay indoors absent urgent circumstances and requiring non-essential businesses to shut down.
Banks are among the businesses, along with grocery stories and pharmacies, governments have deemed critical to keep open.
Despite the proliferation of digital payment tools in recent years, millions of Americans still rely on brick-and-mortar branches to handle their daily money needs.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, banks have been forced to balance customers' need to access to cash against the unfolding public health crisis.
Capital One has closed 25% of its more than 450 locations. Other regional banks have restricted access to drive-throughs and appointments.
Bank of America, with the the third-largest branch network after Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, has not closed any of its locations. Nor has Citigroup, which has a smaller network of roughly 700 locations.
Wells Fargo has closed select locations, including in the Bay Area in California.
Bank of America said that by the end of this week all employees will be working remotely, aside from "employees in roles that must continue in support of our clients and the markets, and must be done in bank premises."
That includes the branch, call center, and operations roles, as well as many of the firm's Wall Street traders.
Get the latest Bank of America stock price here.