Emotions ran high as clients with Turner Valley’s only bank expressed frustration over its impending closure during an information session last week.
The Royal Bank of Canada sent letters to its Turner Valley branch clients in late April informing them it will relocate to Okotoks in December due to a reduction in foot traffic. Eighty-nine per cent of its customers bank online, over the phone or at ATM machines.
More than 150 people attended an information session hosted by RBC at the Royal Canadian Legion Turner Valley branch on June 19. Many people expressed concerns about the lack of consultation with clients, the inability for some to bank online and longer driving distances to bank.
“I sure as hell am not driving to Okotoks,” said Neil Duff, who lives southwest of Millarville. “I’m about 50k from Okotoks. For me to go to Okotoks to do banking is a two-hour trip. If I knew this was coming I would not have renewed my mortgage at the Royal. My money will be going to another institution.”
Duff said he’s frustrated the decision was made without consulting the branch’s client base.
“What really upset, I think, everybody there, me, most of all, is the lack of forethought from the bank in not being inclusive with their customers,” he said. “The lack of consultation ahead of time, even if they made the decision and came out to their customer base and said, ‘We are seriously considering closing the bank,’ and everyone screams and yells and they say, ‘Thank you for your input but we’re closing the bank,’ at least people would have had a say ahead of time.”
The Turner Valley branch is scheduled to close at noon on Dec. 1 and the Southbank Boulevard location in Okotoks will open Dec. 4. The employees will relocate to Okotoks, if they choose. Duff said the entire community was blindsided by the announcement.
“It’s a done deal,” he said. “I feel better knowing the bank knows at least how I feel, but it doesn’t alter the fact that the branch is closing and we keep hearing we have to move forward.”
Those in attendance also expressed concerns that some clients can’t bank online due to unreliable Internet access in rural areas and others would be physically unable to drive to the Okotoks location.
Mark Brown, RBC regional vice-president of South Alberta, hosted the meeting. He said RBC will maintain a presence in Turner Valley through financial services, employee volunteerism and other initiatives, and that its mobile banking team will meet with clients in their homes, if needed. This includes visits once or twice a month to the Valley Neighbours Club in Turner Valley and manor in Black Diamond, he said.
“We are committed to being here,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we are leaving.”
Brown said he understands many people are upset about the decision.
“What we had tonight was emotion,” he said. “This is tough for them. I’m the one who laid out the business case and made the decision.”
Senior Muriel Dais said she prefers tellers to online banking. She called Monday’s meeting, “a complete waste of time.”
“We should have had that meeting six months ago with a consultant that involves a back and forth of opinions,” she said. “He heard over and over again that we should have been consulted earlier, but he didn’t respond to that in any way, shape or form. All it was, was a repetition of the same story that the decision has been made. So why bother to call the meeting?”
Dais disagrees that there are very few walk-ins at the branch.
“I don’t think there is anybody there who had the experience of walking into that bank where there wasn’t at least one other customer there and that was when it was quiet,” she said, adding there is frequently a line-up to the tellers.
Judy Cheesman, a former employee at the Turner Valley branch, said the relocation is “a big mistake” and that she expects RBC will lose business because of it.
“I’m very upset the branch (in Turner Valley) is closing,” she said. “I know lots of people that are going to probably bank elsewhere.”
What has made the branch unique for decades, including the 36 years Cheesman worked there, was the clients were made to feel important, she said.
“We’ve had overwhelming remarks on staff for their loyalty and customer service,” she said. “It’s like a family. People come there to do their visiting.”
As for the reduction in foot traffic, Cheesman said it was inevitable.
“They talk about the reduced foot traffic, but they pushed online banking,” she said. “What do you expect?”
