Ebola scare puts banks on red alert

Nigerian banks and other financial in­stitutions have been put on high alert following the biggest Ebola Virus Dis­ease (EVD) outbreak in his­tory, which is taking toll on businesses and commercial activities across West Africa where the virus has killed over 1,000 people. Government restrictions on the movement of goods and people have halted commerce in some areas. Cross-border markets have been shut down, stripping vendors of their one source of income. Farmers have fled the affected zones, leaving crops to rot in the fields.
However, due to the dev­astating impact of this plague on economic activities, the nation’s deposit money banks have strategised against any outbreak of Ebola virus among its workforce as they interface with customers in the line of duty. Investigation by Daily Sun on banks’ readiness to respond to the outbreak of the disease showed that the lenders have already put measures in place against transmission, includ­ing the reduction in hand­shakes. An Ecobank worker, who spoke to Daily Sun, said the bank had already strategised measures to prevent contact­ing it. According to him, hand sanitizers have been put in strategic places for customers’ use, while their staff were ad­vised on the need to maintain...
high hygiene through washing of hands.
He stated that the disease had not affected its banking operations within Nigeria and other regions where the bank’s subsidiaries function because customers still visit banks for usual transactions
At Diamond Bank, a staff decried the inferior hand gloves provided for the work­ers as a measure to protect them. First Bank of Nigeria Lim­ited said the emergence and likely implications of the EVD have been in the public domain, even as it has already strategised against the dreaded scourge.
It noted that its resident doc­tor has briefed the workers on the facts about the disease, which is the basis for avoiding its transmission, while it has also printed fliers and distrib­uted to staff.
A source from the bank also noted that workers are encour­aged to visit in-house clinic for clarifications as more updates unfold, increase personal hy­giene, use hand sanitizers, while the bulk tellers now use gloves.
“While we have empha­sised less shaking of hands as part of the precautions, we are also cautious not to raise any feeling of isolation and suspicion. People we meet are our customers, which is the es­sence of our business, so we respect as well,” the source said.
For Wema Bank Plc, an insider source said the de­velopment has already been discussed at its weekly “Knowledge Session”, while precautionary measures have been explained to all.
“I think the basic thing  is all about awareness. The other thing is keeping up with personal hygiene. Given the transmission mode, there should be a reduction in shak­ing of hands, but that should be left for the individuals to decide,” the source said.
However, Fidelity Bank Plc acknowledged that the threat posed by the outbreak of Eb­ola virus has caused concern among customers and staff of the bank, as the development has led to new measures being adopted by the lender.
According to the bank’s in-house physician, Dr. Olukay­ode Williams, the steps taken are in three categories – first, a major awareness campaign in­volving circulation of several care advisories to all the staff and their families.
“The bank has already procured 10,000 hand sani­tizers for distribution to staff and urged all to also purchase same for the members of their household and key contacts, while toiletries’ supply with our facilities has been upgrad­ed to afford both convenience and greater protection at this time to users and cleaners alike.
“Secondly, we are in the process of deploying infra-red hand sanitizers that can dis­pense up to 30,000 times each at all our locations and staff buses. The provision will also cover all visitors/customers at any of our locations,” he said.
For Sterling Bank Plc, since the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, it has instituted a daily communication strategy plan where staff are updated on developments on the virus.
According to the bank, it is to ensure that staff and cus­tomers are aware of the deadly virus and part of the bank’s effort to jointly control the spread of the virus and main­tain healthy activities.
“There is the provision of hand sanitizer for use by staff and customers, which are placed in visible locations such as the customer service points, banking halls, restrooms, bulk rooms, offices and at the en­trance and exit routes nation­wide.
“We also ensure the clean­ers disinfect/sanitise every door handle, telephone mouth­pieces, stair rails, desks and counters every hour and pro­vide health tips as new devel­opments unfold,” it said.
Also, Skye Bank Plc af­firmed that it has taken the proactive step of educating its workforce on safety tips to ob­serve, which include good per­sonal hygiene, where to go and where not to go, need for regu­lar hand washing, avoiding frequent handshake, at least, for these uncertain periods.
“We have employed the various internal communica­tion vehicles to advise our staff to always insist, when­ever they visit the hospital, that their doctors wash hands be­fore attending to them and use gloves, as well as ensure they use hand sanitizer always. For the moment, they avoid visit­ing infected people,” it added.
Enterprise Bank Limited said before the awareness for the deadly Ebola virus disease heightened in the country, it had already mounted a cam­paign to sensitise and educate its staff and by extension, fam­ily members, on the sad devel­opment.
In a statement from the Corporate Communications Group of the bank, the lender, on a regular basis, has research materials on the origin, symp­toms, method of spread, man­agement, as well as preventive measures, with illustrations sent out to staff.
These are also encouraged to extend the information to customers of the bank by past­ing them at conspicuous posi­tions in the branches where customers would have access to them.
The bank has circulated the help lines (phone numbers) provided by the Lagos State Ministry of Health, installed hand sanitisers in strategic po­sitions at the branches and of­fices across its network, taken the campaign to its social media platforms so that other stakeholders of the bank will become aware.
Meanwhile, WHO has in­vested $100 million into plans to contain it, while the World Bank pledged $200 million and Dangote invested N150 million. Ebola has also con­stituted a drag on the region’s economies and costs are ex­pected to rise.