How Are Credit Unions Responding to the COVID-19 Delta Variant?

Recently, CreditUnions.com interviewed credit union executives about how they are responding to the COVID-19 Delta variant, which is more virulent than earlier strains. As the virus has surged again, credit unions are refining what they’ve learned to respond to changes the new variant has caused.

TEXAS TRUST CREDIT UNION

“I think we’ve slowly become more comfortable being uncomfortable,” said Jim Minge, CEO, Texas Trust Credit Union in Mansfield, Texas. “The past 18 months have taught us some important lessons.”

“When the CDC advised masks should be worn in high-transmission areas, we once again required employees to wear masks and requested members do the same,” Minge said. “We also put a plan in place, based on the number of positive cases and quarantines in our workforce, to dictate when we might close lobbies and go back to drive-thru operations. The same plan applies to work-from-home and separating critical workforces. So far, we’ve seen increased numbers but not to the level that would push us to the next step in our plan. One thing we have seen is a slowdown in vehicle financing. The supply chain disruptions have certainly impacted our normal summer car-buying season.”

Even the smartest people in the world don’t really know how the virus will impact us, so we made our decisions based on keeping our employees and members as physically and financially safe as possible, Minge said. “We tried to focus on facts over fear and make our decisions based on the guidance from the CDC and our own research.”

“Also, the resurgence is difficult because we have the added complication that the unvaccinated have made a choice to accept an additional level of risk,” Minge said. “Should we do anything as an organization to recognize this fact? So far, our answer is no. We have considered vaccine mandates and additional restrictions for unvaccinated individuals but decided our path forward for the moment includes education and encouragement but no mandates. This, of course, could change.”

TEXANS CREDIT UNION

“We’ve had minimal interruptions from the Delta variant due to the procedures implemented in our member-facing areas when COVID first appeared, the number of our employees that have been vaccinated, and the continuation of our remote work strategy,” said David Frazier, president/CEO of Texans Credit Union in Richardson, Texas.

Frazier said his credit union rolled out an official remote work policy that gives employees more flexibility based on their position. Employees have appreciated this, which allows Texans to quickly adapt to situations like what we are seeing with the Delta variant.

“We continue to follow CDC guidelines to protect our staff and members while adhering to state and local regulations,” said Frazier. “Currently, we require all employees to wear masks if they work within six feet of anyone or in common areas regardless of their vaccination status. We also strongly encourage our members to wear masks inside the branches, and, overall, our members have been cooperative. Operationally, the pandemic forced every department to change in some manner and become more electronically focused. It helped us improve our processes and sped up our adoption of new technology.”

“The pandemic also helped us rethink our work culture,” Frazier said. “We recognized the benefit of remote work early in the pandemic, and our permanent hybrid work environment will move us forward post-COVID. This new work model gives employees the flexibility to work remotely as well as in groups or a collaborative setting while enabling them to better balance work and family.”

Read about what other CU executives have learned at CreditUnions.com. 

See also:
Credit Union of Texas is requiring employees to be vaccinated before returning to work, a decision it says reinforces its core values and serves the best interest of its communities. Learn more in “The Case for a Vaccine Mandate in the Workplace.”