JPMorgan Chase has reportedly closed nearly 1,000 branches on a temporary basis due to the rapid spread of coronavirus in the US, which has already infected over 13,000 people and has left more than 190 dead.
The branches, which have been closed currently, represent nearly 20% of the branch network of the US investment bank, reported the Financial Times, citing an internal memo.
As per the publication, the employee memo from JPMorgan Chase consumer banking head Thasunda Brown Duckett reads: “Starting tomorrow, we will reduce the number of open branches.
“This will help us protect our employees as we provide essential services to our customers and the communities we serve.”
Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase reported that two of its employees at its Manhattan headquarters in New York City had tested positive for coronavirus.
Other branches of JPMorgan Chase to have reduced hours of operation
The investment banking company has nearly 4,000 branches, which are working but with curtailed hours of operation.
The bank has given some of its employees the option to operate from home. Included among them are financial advisers, home-lending advisers, and small-business bankers, reported Reuters.
It has also restricted all the international travel of its employees and has even recommended them against taking up any domestic business travel in the present scenario.
JPMorgan Chase is expected to pay its employees regular salaries irrespective of some of its branches not functioning and some of them putting in lesser hours of operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Other banks across the US are following suit by closing some of their branches indefinitely because of the danger posed by the infection. Capital One Financial is one of them which has shuttered nearly 25% of its 461 branches, reported The Wall Street Journal.
