WARREN – In response to the growing Coronavirus pandemic, effective Friday, March 20, Northwest Bank will limit access to its branch lobbies and move to serve customers through retail drive-through network and alternative banking channels.
- Lobbies will be open by appointment only to limit the number of people in a branch at any one time.
- Customers, who need access to a safe deposit box or have specific needs that can only be addressed in person, will be asked to contact their preferred branch or banker and schedule an appointment.
- Drive-through services will be available during normal business hours.
o   Those branches without drive-throughs will remain open with lobby access by appointment only.
- As an alternative to branch banking, staff are encouraging customers to use Northwest’s online tools and other resources for self-service banking and 24/7 account access.
o   Customers can bank virtually anywhere, anytime through a wide array of channels including online and mobile banking, the telephone banking system, Bankline, on premise depository ATMs and access to 55,000 ATMs through the Allpoint Network. Customers can easily make payments, view transactions, check account balances, find an ATM and much more.
These temporary realignments are being made out of an abundance of caution and are being put in place as a preventative measure to decrease the number of people interacting in its branch offices, creating greater social distance between our staff and customers, as recommended by the Federal Coronavirus Task Force and Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Bank staff are fully-committed to ensuring that every customer can interact with them and continue to conduct all banking transactions. However, these steps are critical to the prevention and spread of the disease and necessary to ensure the health and safety of everyone.
Staff members are closely monitoring the situation, collecting first-hand knowledge from each of its operating regions, state and local governments and its regulators (FDIC, OCC and Federal Reserve), and will continue to adapt our retail delivery model and workforce as the situation evolves.
Staff members thank all its retail and business customers for their patience and understanding as it navigates this crisis.
