Closed drive-up tellers?

[jamcool]

I have noticed Wells Fargo has "temporarily closed" its drive-up tellers in the Phoenix area-they are not staffed. The only personnel in the bank is in the lobby, and there are often long lines waiting inside and outside. Wouldn't be wiser, with the virus, to keep the drive-ups open instead of the lobby?

[rwsandiego]

I have noticed Wells Fargo has "temporarily closed" its drive-up tellers in the Phoenix area-they are not staffed. The only personnel in the bank is in the lobby, and there are often long lines waiting inside and outside. Wouldn't be wiser, with the virus, to keep the drive-ups open instead of the lobby?

It is odd that Wells has closed drive through teller lines while staffing lobby tellers. My former employer (a Wells competitor in California) did the opposite by reactivating long-closed drive through lanes at the start of the pandemic. Customers loved the ability to conduct in-person transactions while minimizing contact. Employees loved it, too.

[storewanderer]

I have noticed Wells Fargo has "temporarily closed" its drive-up tellers in the Phoenix area-they are not staffed. The only personnel in the bank is in the lobby, and there are often long lines waiting inside and outside. Wouldn't be wiser, with the virus, to keep the drive-ups open instead of the lobby?

It is odd that Wells has closed drive through teller lines while staffing lobby tellers. My former employer (a Wells competitor in California) did the opposite by reactivating long-closed drive through lanes at the start of the pandemic. Customers loved the ability to conduct in-person transactions while minimizing contact. Employees loved it, too.

CVS has been doing the same thing due to understaffed. They close drive through pharmacy and require everyone to go inside. Seems like a great idea?

[rwsandiego]

I have noticed Wells Fargo has "temporarily closed" its drive-up tellers in the Phoenix area-they are not staffed. The only personnel in the bank is in the lobby, and there are often long lines waiting inside and outside. Wouldn't be wiser, with the virus, to keep the drive-ups open instead of the lobby?

It is odd that Wells has closed drive through teller lines while staffing lobby tellers. My former employer (a Wells competitor in California) did the opposite by reactivating long-closed drive through lanes at the start of the pandemic. Customers loved the ability to conduct in-person transactions while minimizing contact. Employees loved it, too.

CVS has been doing the same thing due to understaffed. They close drive through pharmacy and require everyone to go inside. Seems like a great idea?

I can see it more so at CVS than at Wells Fargo. There is the possibility that the pharmacy customer will buy something else while in the store. While there is a slight chance that a deposit- or withdrawal-making customer will also open a new account or apply for a loan, that's quite a stretch.

Still, it does not make a ton of sense at CVS.

[storewanderer]

I can see it more so at CVS than at Wells Fargo. There is the possibility that the pharmacy customer will buy something else while in the store. While there is a slight chance that a deposit- or withdrawal-making customer will also open a new account or apply for a loan, that's quite a stretch.

Still, it does not make a ton of sense at CVS.

With COVID, and what should be an objective of wanting to keep people out of the store who are sick, I cannot imagine closing drive through pharmacy. Also many people looking for COVID tests (wanting an actual swab test performed by the store) have become "trained" to get those tests via drive through. If it is closed, they enter the store asking for a swab test to be performed.

As far as banks go, I have noticed an increase in customers who have kept using the drive through tellers even after the banks reopened inside who had closed inside. It is kind of funny. Nobody was using those drive through tellers... before COVID... since like 1995. It will be interesting to see if they bring any technology improvements to those drive through teller lanes (pinpads, etc.). I doubt they will, but never know.

[buckguy]

It may have to do with the kind of transactions they have at the Branch. Between ATMs, phone service and online deposits, there are a limited number of transactions that really need to be done in person and many of them actually require require in-person interaction to get resolved. I have been trying to untangle a botched trust account and have had to make multiple office visits which has led me to notice that other office transactions are complicated or involve very difficult customers (people with dementia or probably mental illness). Drive through transactions are time consuming and the bean counters probably don't see that as a good use of resources. There is more being done with live, online teller terminals and I'd imagine that those may remain after COVID. Given the ambient noise, etc. I'm not so sure they easily could be adapted to a drive through.

[Brian Lutz]

I don't think I've seen a drive-up window at a bank open here in years, It seems most bank branches here stopped using these long before COVID.

[Super S]

In 2020, when one of the local credit unions had the lobby closed, they converted the drive-up window closest to the building into a walk-up window. They also have a couple of ATMs now which have the option of speaking directly to a teller through the ATM.

I personally don't like doing my banking in a drive-thru setting with the exception of ATM withdrawals.

[Alpha8472]

In Northern California, I have not seen drive thru banking in decades. Most of the drive thru lanes are just drive thru ATM machines. Drive thru banking takes longer and you have to use a tube system or a drawer system.

Some pharmacies have drive thru, but it takes much longer and the tube system often malfunctions. CVS is notorious for getting medication stuck in the tube system. Then it could take days for someone to come and fix it. The time it takes to help one person at drive thru could have been spent helping 8 other people in that time.

Pharmacies bring out medications to people's cars if they are COVID positive or unable to walk inside.

[MSSportsGuy]

As a former bank employee I can tell you the drive thru is a blessing or curse depending on your perspective. Banks have been as understaffed as any retail operation for many years way since leaders ran skeleton crews as more people were going to ATM, online, and later mobile transactions. I understood it but the people who had to visit the bank typically had very complicated issues. That being said, there was still a population of people who wanted their deposit, cashed check, drop off loan payment service at the drive thru and didn't understand why it was taking a long time. When there are two people inside a branch, it's easy for both to get tied up on transactions that take time such as a wire or a trust account.

Also, large banks are notorious for upselling and employees such as I were expected to have so many new accounts, credit cards, new products opened each quarter. I didn't work for WF and my entity did not engage in high pressure sales tactics but it was more difficult to sell through the drive up than inside.