NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Servus Credit Union on Strachan Road, along with many other banks in Canada, has revised its policy on non-religious face coverings to allow customers to wear masks inside its branches as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Public Health Agency of Canada revised its stance on masks Wednesday to recommend all Canadians wear non-medical face coverings wherever maintaining six feet of social distance is not possible – however that creates a unique issue for businesses that previously prohibited concealed faces, like banks.
There was a time, not too long ago, when entering a bank with a mask on would have been regarded as a significant safety concern, but those times have changed. Prior to the pandemic, Servus Credit Union had a policy in its emergency planning procedures that prohibited patrons from wearing non-religious face coverings inside its banks, however Strachan Road branch manager Cara Yaworski says growing concerns raised by COVID-19 have forced the company to revisit that stance.
“It is commonplace. We do see a lot of members that come in with masks,” Yaworski said of the shift brought on by the pandemic. “A lot of people are comfortable removing their masks, but that is not a requirement … We also have the option to just kind of ask them, ‘What are you looking to do today?’ And just engaging them right when they come through the door. We have people that are in the lobby talking to our members, so by the time they come up to the wicket we know they’re a member and what they’re looking to do.”
As far as identification goes, Yaworski says Servus has various means of confirming an account holder’s identity through personal information, and they’ve been using those methods for patrons who wish to keep their masks on at all times.
“If members are comfortable removing their masks, they can do that and we can identify them that way,” she said. “But we’re kind of lucky in that we have other information on our members and other ways that we can authenticate them, so we do have a process if people want to leave their masks on.”
ATB Financial has taken a similar stance in regard to face masks. Media specialist Chinta Puxley says customers are welcome to wear masks in branches as long as they can still be “confidently identified” by staff.
“ATB’s policy has evolved to reflect health care advice,” Puxley said in an email to the News. “Customers can now wear masks in the branch if they can be confidently identified by ATB team members.”
Over at TD, corporate and public affairs manager Ian McColl says the bank has also changed its stance on non-religious face coverings to allow for masks as a result of the pandemic, though TD is encouraging customers to do their banking from home if possible.
“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we would only allow customers with face coverings for religious reasons,” McColl said in an email to the News.
“Across the country, we continue to encourage customers to avoid visiting a branch unless their banking needs are urgent and must be managed in-person. Instead, we are helping our customers use our Green Machine ATMs, EasyLine telephone banking, EasyWeb online banking and the TD app.”
