A meeting about the future closure of the 100 Mile House Bank of Montreal (BMO) branch held Jan. 22 attracted around 60 people wanting to voice their concerns.
The closure of the branch, located in Cariboo Mall, was announced by BMO in a letter sent out to business partners and customers of the bank in early December 2024 and is set to take effect on June 27, 2025. The closure would leave the Williams Lake BMO branch as the closest for BMO customers living in 100 Mile House.
The closure took local leaders by surprise, but BMO said that regional vice-president, Stephanie Partridge, would be visiting 100 Mile House on Jan. 22 to explain the change. Eight days before the meeting, however, Partridge cancelled her attendance without any explanation.
Guy Wilton, a customer with the 100 Mile BMO branch, organized the meeting. Wilton addressed the crowd of mostly seniors about the impacts the branch closure would have on them all.
"There are two major impacts: number one, seniors that cannot drive will (not be able) to drive face-to-face to Williams Lake and conduct their business there," Wilton explained. "They're being forced into online banking, and that is not something that comes naturally to the older folks."
In addition, Wilton said the rationale for closing the BMO branch is hard to argue as a "poverty case," as he said BMO made around $23.1 billion in 2023 in profits.
"Why are they closing those town branches? It's a great question to ask, and then wait for the answers," Wilton told the crowd.
He noted that similar decisions by BMO to close down branches have been made in Kitimat, as well as Enderby, Mackenzie and Dawson Creek.
Wilton said he organized the meeting because he resented being unable to give any sort of comment before the closure of BMO. Wilton contacted Frank Caputo, the MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, and Caputo told him about the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).
"They told me they have guidelines regarding the closure," Wilton said of the FCAC. "When I read those, there was no apparent effort by BMO for the most part to follow the guidelines."
He emphasized the fact the original meeting with Partridge being cancelled was unfair to customers.
Another person affected by the branch closure is Frances Vezina, who lives in the Deka Lakes area. She told the 100 Mile Free Press that a drive to the Williams Lake branch of BMO is 266 kilometres return while the Kamloops branch of BMO is 362-km drive return.
"And what if I get sick? My husband is a dinosaur - he doesn't have a phone - he doesn't use a card," Vezina said. "We don't travel during the winter."
Vezina says that the closure represents a lack of foresight from BMO, noting that people are leaving Vancouver and moving to the Cariboo.
"Some of the areas that depended on 100 Mile are in the outskirts, which, if you would bother to notice, are areas growing rather quickly," she explained.
Vezina plans to transfer her funds to either the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) or the Williams Lake and District Credit Union, all of which have branches in 100 Mile House.
Others who are affected include veterans. Dale Bachmier uses the branch because BMO gives extra interest in savings accounts and would lock in their interest rates, in case of a change in interest rates from the Bank of Canada, for veterans. Bachmier served for around 23 years and has slight post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), saying that if he cannot talk to someone face-to-face, he would not trust the person talking to him.
"How do I know? How do I know who I'm talking to? You know, because like they mentioned today, there's so many scams out there and that kind of stuff. So when I can't talk to a person face-to-face, I don't have a clue if they're actually a person from the bank or from Taiwan trying to steal my money," Bachmier said.
Bachmier said that it would be better if the BMO branch remained open, because, much like Vezina, it would take a long time for him to get to the Williams Lake branch.
"I got to travel a half an hour just to get here, and then if I have to go to Williams Lake, that's another hour - an hour and a bit to get to the BMO there. So, are they going to pay for my money, my gas, to get there and back? And that's a lot of money out of my pocket to let them invest my money to make billions," Bachmier said.
Donna Barnett, one of the two District of 100 Mile House councillors who attended the meeting alongside Marty Norgren, said the closure of the bank will be devastating for 100 Mile House.
"I know the Bank of Montreal is a big corporate institution, but here, they are a very vital part of our community - the people that work there and the people that are customers there - it is very vital to this community," Barnett said. She also said that she would bring the issue up in a council meeting.
In a media release sent out by Wilton to the 100 Mile Free Press after the meeting, he listed other issues the branch closure would cause including "increased pollution from additional vehicle traffic, increased risk of accidents with other vehicles or wildlife, and additional strain on emergency first responders, many of whom are volunteers." Wilton also noted that Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson said it would leave a gaping hole in the Cariboo Mall.
The next steps that Wilton will be taking are plans to organize people to contact Partridge to pass the complaints up her corporate line of authority, as well as contacting Doerkson's office, as well as Caputo and MP Todd Doherty of Cariboo-Prince George, who, if elected, is set to become the next MP representing 100 Mile House due to the riding redistribution.
In addition, Wilton wants to get people to submit a complaint with the Financial Customer Agency of Canada.
He said that Caputo can be reached at 250-851-4991, Doherty can be reached at 250-564-7771 and District of 100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney can be reached at 250-395-2434. Meanwhile, the FCAC can be reached at 1-866-461-3222, while BMO head office can be reached at 416-857-5000. Wilton himself can be reached at 778-241-3418.
Caputo has already sent a letter to Stephanie Partridge on Jan. 22, expressing concern over the closure of the branch.
"No longer receiving personal assistance with financial needs will increase the risk of making poor decisions and being victimized," Caputo wrote in his letter to Partridge.
Wilton also isn't ruling out potentially filing a class-action lawsuit against BMO over the branch closure because customers who potentially move accounts could lose interest, as well as potentially incur fees as a result.
"When you look at the financial impacts on a per-customer basis, and multiply that by the number of customers here, potentially the number of customers in Kitimat and these other places, you have the strength to consider at least a class-action lawsuit against people for loss of income," Wilton said.
In a statement given to the 100 Mile Free Press, BMO spokesperson Jeff Roman said that they "continuously assess our operations - including our branch network - to adapt to changing consumer preferences for service delivery." He said that the closure of the 100 Mile House BMO branch was carefully considered and that they would ensure clients could transition smoothly.
Roman additionally said that BMO offers mobile and telephone banking for customers via the BMO Virtual Connect platform and can assist with setting up direct debit and credit payments - and offers video guides on how to pay bills online, transfer money between accounts, as well as deposit cheques and send money to friends.
"Customers can stay updated on developments at our branch, where they can also learn more about how we will support them through this transition," Roman said in the written statement.
With files from Patrick Davies.
