Actions

These are the major changes to banking made during the COVID-19 pandemic

10 banks that are hiring for jobs paying over $100K
Posted at 6:33 AM, Aug 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-21 15:26:54-04

(WXYZ) — Banking since COVID-19 has taken on a different form. From wearing a mask to not being able to talk with a teller, several changes have been implemented in recent months.

At Michigan Legacy Credit Union, a cashless transaction requiring the help of a teller can now be handled from home, from the mall, or by the lake. They launched the virtual teller app in early July.

"As long as you don't need a cash transaction, you can open up a membership, you can apply for a loan or a mortgage," Teller Michael Castano said. "There's so many different member service opportunities you can have just from the comfort of your home."

"Only 7 percent of our transactions are done by members in our lobby with a teller. Everything else is electronic format," CEO Carma Peters added.

Peters said declining transactions in brick-and-mortar branches has fueled the credit unions to push to mobile banking, and since COVID-19, there's been a massive increase in mobile banking.

"We let members call us, text us, chat us, use our mobile website. Our mobile logins went up in the month of April by 50,000," Peters said.

She said the plan was to equip branches with virtual tellers before launching the app. That comes next.

Banking in-person has also taken on a different look. Wearing a mask during a visit prior to COVID-19 might raise suspicion. Now, it's encouraged at all credit unions.

For banks that remain open, the American Banking Association has also called on all banks to adopt a face mask policy.

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.