Tens of thousands of bankers are working from home, ATM use is up, and top executives are pleading for a stimulus package, as the banking system attempts to grapple with the novel coronavirus.

A day after executives from Charlotte’s largest banks went to the White House to discuss the financial impact of the virus, the first two presumptive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, were announced in Mecklenburg County.

On Wednesday, Wells Fargo was notified that an employee who works at One Wells Fargo Center in Charlotte, on the 6th floor, had been in “prolonged, close contact” with someone who recently tested positive for the virus, according to spokesman Peter Gilchrist.

That employee was sent home, and those who had been in close proximity with that employee were told to work from home. The 6th floor was cleaned Wednesday night, and the building was open Thursday.

The new coronavirus hurts banks in myriad ways.

The less people and businesses spend and borrow crimps revenue. Plummeting interest rates reduces the margin banks make on loans. More defaults — whether from consumers who can’t pay their mortgages or oil companies reeling due to falling crude prices — hurts exposed banks, too.

Work from home

To protect their workers, many banks are letting more of their employees work from home. Wells Fargo had 62,000 people work from home on Monday, a little less than a quarter of its workforce, CEO Charlie Scharf said.

Wells is the only large bank with Charlotte offices that has an employee in another city diagnosed with COVID-19. That employee is in a San Francisco office, the bank learned Saturday. The San Francisco office was cleaned, and returned to regular use by Monday.

Spokesmen for Bank of America and Truist said that their banks had no confirmed cases.

Truist is beefing up the cleaning of its branches and offices, has suspended international air travel for employees, and has limited nonessential business air travel in the U.S., spokesman Kyle Tarrance said. Group meetings are being held by phone or video conference when they can be, and they’re building up their employees’ ability to work from home. Bank of America and Wells Fargo have also restricted travel.

As for consumers, ATM volumes started to creep up as people begin to stock up on cash, according to Thomas McDermott, a bank consultant and former SunTrust executive, citing conversations he’s had with bankers.

“It wasn’t significant but if this keeps up you could see that trend continue,” he said Thursday.

While ATMs involve less interaction with people compared to a branch transaction, many are less clean than most consumers would want them to be, McDermott said.

“I don’t want to cause a scare about that, but I do want to call attention to that,” he said.

White House summit

The top executives of Bank of America, Truist and Wells Fargo, among other banking leaders, met with President Donald Trump at the White House Wednesday to discuss the impact of the virus on the financial system.

The executives emphasized that the banking system was stable, despite the sharp drops in the stock market.

“We’re very strongly capitalized. We are in a great position, in terms of liquidity, capital, and strength,” said Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan at the meeting. “We’re still seeing people spend money. We’re still seeing people go out. Small-business loans are continuing to grow. Auto loans are growing.”

Bank of America shares fell about 9.5% to $20.50 Thursday, just off the lowest mark since 2016. Wells Fargo shares dropped 16%, hitting the lowest mark since 2011 at $27.20 a share.

The Bank Policy Institute, one of the top lobbying groups for the banking industry, argued that federal regulators should reduce regulations on banks in light of the virus, a move criticized as opportunistic by some. The group argued that “current regulations can inhibit banks’ ability to provide liquidity where it is needed.”

The Trump administration is considering multiple fiscal stimulus packages to boost the U.S. economy in the face of the virus, a move that both Moynihan and Truist CEO Kelly King endorsed in the meeting with the president. King, a longtime Republican donor, went further, endorsing a payroll tax holiday.

“The country is really strong. You’re done a fantastic job,” King said. “We need to remind ourselves that part of getting through a challenge like this is about confidence and supporting each other and having hope for the future.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.