Irate over bank closure

Photo: Google Street View

The CIBC branch in Keremeos will be closing in March.

A public meeting held by CIBC in Keremeos on Thursday night was met with backlash from residents, following news that the bank is closing its branch in the town.

When the closure happens in March, Valley First will be the only storefront offering financial services in Keremeos.

Residents who bank with CIBC will have their accounts transferred to the bank's branch in Osoyoos.

Coun. Jason Wiebe was at the meeting on Thursday, which he explained CIBC arranged as an information session to let people know what their options are.

"But that is definitely not why the public showed up," he said, noting more than 50 people were in attendance — a "fair representation," he said, for the town of about 1,700 people.

"The people took an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction."

He added that many residents there voiced a feeling of betrayal and a lack of loyalty from CIBC. Some said they have been CIBC clients for more than 60 years. 

"They kind of made of comments about 'we have been loyal and faithful customers. Back in our day when we used to make good money, we used to work hard... and basically now that we're retired, this is how we're treated.'"

Wiebe said that many agricultural farmers in the town still deal in cash, and noted driving a half-hour to make simple deposits will be an added expense for them.

He also added that there's residents with mobility issues who don't drive, who now will have a real challenge with doing their banking.

"The bank kept emphasizing internet banking and being able to take pictures with your phone and make deposits that way," Wiebe said.

"Many of our seniors don't even have a cell phone... And so you can repeat all you want that this is the new way to do the banking, but you have people who are looking at you going 'this doesn't make any sense to me.'"

When asked in September about why the Keremeos branch is closing, CIBC issued a statement to Castanet reading, "as more and more Canadians in both rural and urban areas are choosing to do their banking outside of traditional banking centres, we’ve needed to make some adjustments to our network."

Wiebe added that he's the chair of non-profits in the community, and said those accounts used to be with CIBC but aren't anymore.

"We took all of our funds, and it wasn't a small amount, from the bank and transferred it all to Valley First... And I've spoken to a number of people who have gone that route."