Analysis of Challenges Faced by Banks (CBA vs Westpac) During COVID-19

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by banking institutions, specifically the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study begins with an introduction to the global impact of the pandemic on financial systems, highlighting the economic losses and the need for banks to adapt. The research objectives include assessing the impact on business operations, the banking sector, and operational adjustments, as well as comparing the responses of the two banks. A review of literature discusses the risks to global financial stability, the impact on market liquidity, and the responses of central banks. The research employs a positivist philosophy and an analytical research design to examine secondary data. The discussion section details the measures taken by both Westpac and Commonwealth Bank in response to the crisis, with a comparison of their initiatives. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of adapting to new work standards and the crucial role of online banking and ATMs. The report concludes with recommendations for improving bank operations and includes a list of references.

ANALYSIS OF CHALLENGES
FACE BY BANKS DURING COVID
- 19
COMMON WEALTH BANK VS
WESTPAC
Name of the Student

Introduction
• The global pandemic known as the Covid 19 has bought about
unprecedented loss to the human lives as well as the financial
systems
• With more than three months of crisis, the pandemic has
brought about consistent losses to the economy as a whole.
• The study is aimed at understanding these losses and thereby
outlining the manner in which the banking organizations such
as the Westpac and the Commonwealth have been planning
to deal with the losses
• The barriers faced by them will be discussed along with the
responses of the banking enterprises.

Research Objectives
• To assess the impact that Covid 19 has on business operations
• To determine the specific impact that Covid 19 has had on the
banking sector
• To assess how banks have been conducting associated
operations in the light of the crisis brought on by Covid 19
• To compare the responses of the Commonwealth Bank to the
Covid 19 crisis with the responses by Westpac
• To generate a series of recommendations that can be taken
into consideration by the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac
for bringing about an improvement in their operations.

Review of Literature
• The outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic is posing a clear risk
and threat to global financial stability (King et al. 2020).
• As a consequence of the spike in volatility in the global
marketplace, market liquidity is something that has witnessed
a significant deterioration, and this is something that holds
true for markets that are traditionally perceived to be quite
deep, a good example in this respect being the American
treasury market (Latham 2020).
• Most central banks and financial institutions that are situated
in low income countries or in emerging economies have also
cut down their policy rates by a considerable extent (Maital
and Barzani 2020).

Cont..
• One immediate aftermath that the banking sector is likely
faced with as a consequence of the Covid 19 crisis, is to
impose restrictions on access to a number of physical facilities,
so that employees and customers are protected from the virus
and do not have to worry about coming into direct contact
with the virus (Rameli and Wagner 2020).
Gaps in Literature Review
• The literature that has been reviewed above points to how
banks have responded to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic
at the global level, with special reference being made to the
role that is played by central banks in ensuring the stability
and the efficiency of the international financial system
following the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Research methods adopted
• Research Philosophy
• For this study, it is the positivist research philosophy that has
been chosen as it has helped the researcher to understand
how banks such as Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank
have responded to the crisis brought on by the Covid 19
pandemic in a detailed and accurate manner.
• Research Design
• The analytical research design is known also as the descriptive
research design and it is widely used by academics around the
world on grounds of the fact that it allows the investigator to
analyze and discuss the subject matter of the research in a
detailed way (Silverman 2016).

Research methods adopted
Data Collection and Analysis of Data
• The data that has been retrieved from the secondary sources
of information have then been analyzed in a thematic manner
Ethical Considerations
• This study has been carried out only after taking quite a few
ethical factors into consideration.
Limitations of the Study
• Some of the key limitations that are connected to this
research project are the fact that it had to be undertaken
in a limited span of time, and that there was not much in
terms of funding or financial resources that the
researcher could count on for writing this paper

Discussion and Analysis
• Measures taken by Westpac
The responses can be considered to be as follows:
Encouraging
Customers to
Engage in Online
Business
Transactions
Encouraging the
use of ATM’s for
Cash
Transactions
Introducing
Useful Tips for
Productivity for
Customers
working from
home
Introducing
Protective Gear
and Equipment
and Sanitized
Office Spaces for
Employees

Measures taken by
Commonwealth
• The responses can be considered to be as follows:
Comparing the Initiatives Taken by Commonwealth Bank with the Initiatives of
Westpac
Both the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac Bank have responded in a similar manner
to the crisis that has been brought on by the Covid 19 pandemic. Both banks are
encouraging their customers to make extensive use of online banking facilities at this
period of time, and are providing them with all the help, care and assistance that they
need in order to be able to do so (De Vito and Gomez 2020).
Encouraging the
use of ATM and
Online Banking
Services for
Customers
Encouraging
Employees to
Work Remote and
Ensuring
Sanitized Offices
for Employees
who cannot work
remotely

Conclusion
• Employees around the world are having to change their work
standards, and are having to adjust to working from their
homes rather than from a professional setup like an office
space. With respect to the banking sector in particular, it is
seen that banks are not able to remain closed as monetary
transactions are vital during the crisis.
• Customers in particular are being encouraged to use online
banking facilities and ATMs in order to keep their financial
obligations from coming to a halt during this period of time in
human history.

Recommendations
All employees of the banks should be
allowed to work from remote
locations for their physical safety and
wellbeing
The office spaces need to be
sanitized every single day to keep
these places safe from the risk of
infection
Customers of banks and employees
of the same should be confined to
online operations or transactions
only for reasons of personal safety
By working from a physical office
space, employees are risking their
lives and the lives of their family
members and a hike in salary is the
least that banks can ensure for
rewarding the commitment shown to
them by their employees during this
period of crisis.

References
• De Vito, A. and Gomez, J.P., 2020. Estimating the COVID-19 Cash Crunch: Global
Evidence and Policy. Available at SSRN 3560612.
• Flick, U., 2018. Designing qualitative research. Sage
• Latham, L., 2020. COVID-19: Workers should not be made to mortgage our future. Green
Left Weekly, (1258), p.9.
• Maital, S. and BARZANI, E., 2020. The Global Economic Impact of COVID-19: A
Summary of Research. Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research
• McKibbin, W. and Fernando, R., 2020. 3 The economic impact of COVID-19. Economics
in the Time of COVID-19, p.45
• Ramelli, S. and Wagner, A., 2020. 7 What the stock market tells us about the consequences
of COVID-19. Mitigating the COVID Economic Crisis: Act Fast and Do Whatever, p.63.
• Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage
• Wenham, C., Smith, J. and Morgan, R., 2020. COVID-19: the gendered impacts of the
outbreak. The Lancet, 395(10227), pp.846-848.
• Zhou, X., Snoswell, C.L., Harding, L.E., Bambling, M., Edirippulige, S., Bai, X. and Smith,
A.C., 2020. The role of telehealth in reducing the mental health burden from COVID-
19. Telemedicine and e-Health.