ABSA forces clients to go into ABSA branches for bank statements amid a global pandemic increasing clients' exposure to infection

ABSA allows for the electronic access to statements for only the past 3 months. One can also not be sent statements for further back than 3 months by phoning the call centre. Instead, one is told that statements older than 3 months are archived statements and the only way to get these is to go into an ABSA branch. I find this very disconcerting and senseless as (1) we are in the Covid019 pandemic and any visit to an ABSA branch increases one's exposure to possible infection and (2) it is currently tax season and it automatically follows that people will need access to older statements in order to provide proof of payments made for medical and other services/products. If archived statements are accessible at the "physical" ABSA branches, surely they are also accessible from the central system and can therefore be sent to clients via email upon request. This situation does not suggest a consideration for clients' wellbeing, and safety.