New measure supports public health advice for seniors to stay at home while helping them bank faster, easier, safer by phone  

TORONTO, April 3, 2020 /CNW/ - With Canadian seniors being advised to take extra precautions including staying at home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, CIBC has launched priority phone routing for seniors aged 75 and older, helping make it faster, easier and safer for them to get their everyday banking done by phone.

This new measure means that these clients will automatically be moved to the front of the line when calling telephone banking, significantly reducing wait times on the phone to a few minutes or less.

"We know that many seniors need to access their banking but may feel more comfortable banking from home given the current situation," said Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Senior Executive Vice-President and Group Head, Personal and Business Banking. "We're here to support them in any way we can and our new priority routing ensures seniors will reach one of our team members quickly for help with their banking."

With only 40% of seniors active on digital channels including online and mobile banking, many are turning to the phone to do their banking. CIBC is serving approximately 35% more seniors by phone this week when compared to last week. To further support seniors, CIBC's digital advocacy team is also proactively calling a list of 20,000 clients who were once digitally active to get them re-engaged onto digital and help them setup bill payments and eDeposits.

The new priority phone routing is in place today for clients 80 and up, and is effective for clients 75-79 beginning Saturday April 4.

The new calling measure is in addition to other steps CIBC is taking to support senior clients, including:

• Establishing the "you're next" policy at banking centres, prioritizing seniors and persons with disabilities to the front of the line so we can serve them quickly and safely.
   
• Proactively calling seniors to see how we can help with bill payment and day-to-day banking needs remotely.
   
• Opening banking centres 30 minutes early at 9:30am on select dates to assist with pension deposits and key month-end banking needs.  

"Recognizing that seniors represent one of our most vulnerable communities, we're taking steps to ensure they are taken care of during this challenging time," added Ms. Dottori-Attanasio. "It's really important that we take action so that they don't fall through the cracks at a time when they need support the most."

About CIBC

CIBC is a leading Canadian-based global financial institution with 10 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Across Personal and Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets businesses, CIBC offers a full range of advice, solutions and services through its leading digital banking network, and locations across Canada, in the United States and around the world. Ongoing news releases and more information about CIBC can be found at www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/media-centre.html.

SOURCE CIBC