BMO executives are making “huge misunderstanding” in closing local branch

A 100 Mile House resident says BMO executives are missing a major point in their branch closure decision.

BMO announced the branch will permanently close on June 27 last month in a letter to customers and business partners. The letter said that customers can continue to use the Williams Lake branch to access banking services.

The decision was surprising to residents, customers, and business partners alike.

A public meeting with the regional vice-president was to be held at the 100 Mile branch next week on January 22; to answer questions and concerns from customers impacted by the impending closure. The meeting has since been canceled. BMO has given no reason for the cancellation, nor has BMO rescheduled officially rescheduled the meeting.

100 Mile residents are not giving up the fight for their branch.

Residents are still planning on going to the meeting on January 22, despite the cancellation, giving the chance for customers and the public to give open feedback to the branch to take to the corporate executives.

Guy Wilton, a resident and an organizer of this continued meeting, says “it was a corporate decision”, and with no reason given customers can only assume it was for financial reasons.

“That unfortunately displays a huge lack of understanding on the part of BMO executives of what life is like in a small town,” Wilton says. “That bank is more than simply a place to do business. It’s a focal point for the community. Not unlike what you would see in any large shopping mall where they have their anchor store.”

“We need to impress upon them[BMO] how important this branch is to the community.”

Wilton has invited Mayor Maureen Pinkney, MLA Loerne Doerkson, and MP Frank Caputo to attend the meeting.

BMO has also announced the closure of its branch in Kitimat in July this year. Wilton says that the decision defies “financial logic.”

“Kitimat has one liquid natural gas plant that’s ramping up now. They have a second one in the development stage,” says Wilton. “Businesses are moving to Kitimat to take advantage of that economic upswing. I can’t understand BMO’s rationale behind these closures.”

Wilton questions whether the decisions to close the branches are targeting rural areas specifically.

BMO has yet to comment to the press on either the 100 Mile House or Kitimat branch closures or the decisions on rural areas.

Wilton says he has been in contact with the BMO regional vice president, asking if the processes of closing branches within the guidelines of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada differed between the regions. He says that the vice president did not answer his question.

Wilton urges customers and residents to come to the meeting, saying there is hope in publically giving feedback and voice.

“You lose nothing by making an effort to be at the meeting on January 22 and explain how important this branch is to you individually, and as a citizen in the community… There is a chance. It wouldn’t be the first time that large corporations have been forced to change their minds because of the public backlash.”