BOYLE – Boyle residents are going to find themselves short a bank in the coming year, after the local CIBC branch announced it would be closing its doors May 2024.
During their Dec. 6 regular council meeting, Village of Boyle councillors voted 5-0 in favour of a motion to write a letter to the bank asking for more information about why the closure is occurring.
“I don’t know what we can do, or if we can do anything, but I think we should write them a letter to let them know if there is anything we can do, or anything they need help with, (we’re here),” said mayor Colin Derko. “It’s important for them to know council is concerned, council does care, and council wants to help if we can. If we can’t, we want to know why so we can answer questions from ratepayers.”
The nearest CIBC branch is located in Athabasca, which will leave some business owners in a bit of a pickle when it comes time to do payroll or make a weekly transfer.
“Anytime we lose a business, there’s always a domino effect,” said Terry Mudryk, president of the Boyle Chamber of Commerce and owner of the 'Ole' Fashioned Wellness Station. “The bigger picture is going to be seniors, I’m hearing from them that they’re very upset — the 30-minute drive is not conducive to their lifestyle, and most of them don’t do online banking.”
Coun. Shelby Kiteley suggested councillors reach out to the Boyle Chamber of Commerce to see if they would be willing to write their own letter, something Mudryk indicated she was amenable to.
“This is the number one priority on our upcoming meeting agenda, at this time I’m pretty sure we’ll be writing a letter, and also encouraging other small businesses to do the same,” said Mudryk.
A spokesperson for CIBC said the branch would be merging with the banking centre in Athabasca due to lower business volumes — the bank is still in the process of notifying customers.
“Our Boyle Banking Centre has experienced lower business volumes for some time, and currently 94 per cent of all our client transactions take place outside of a banking centre through mobile, online, and telephone banking,” read the statement. “As a result of this shift, we’ve made adjustments to our network.”
