Chase, BMO Harris close dozens of Chicago-area bank branches in response to COVID-19

Dozens of Chicago-area bank branches are temporarily closing, and others are reducing hours, in response to the spread of coronavirus.

Chase Bank on Thursday closed 20% of its 300 Chicago-area branches, according to Chase spokesman Brian Hanover.

Chase branches on Tuesday reduced their hours to 9:30 a.m. through 4 p.m., he said.

“We made sure that any branch that had a drive up window or glass partition teller window were among those that remained open for business, to give us the maximum flexibility to continue to provide critical services to our clients if events warrant,” Hanover said in an emailed statement.

Customers should refer to the company’s website or mobile app to determine which branches remain open, he said. Chase has not determined when the branches will reopen.

Meanwhile, BMO Harris Bank closed 43 of its Chicago-area branches until further notice “to help limit the spread of COVID-19,” according to BMO Harris spokesman Patrick O’Herlihy.

BMO Harris also suspended lobby access to 151 branches, leaving just 23 branches open with full-service, O’Herlihy said in an email.

The remaining “branches are strategically located in an effort to make full-service banking as accessible as possible,” he said.

On Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said cases of coronavirus in Illinois had nearly doubled to 288.