BMO Verona Information Meeting on Closure
A few BMO customers gathered on Tuesday, January 13, to protest the decision by the bank to pull up stakes and eliminate their physical footprint in Verona, forever.
The date of the protest coincided with what the bank promoted as an “Informal Meeting” day, with a regional bank VP, so that Verona BMO customers could “learn more about this move and what it means to you, and learn how we’ll help you through the transition.”
South Frontenac Councillor Ray Leonard was one of the first people to go into the meeting. He was decked out in South Frontenac Township clothing in order to make it clear he was a council member. After leaving the meeting, he said that even though he pointed out that Verona was soon to have two influxes of new people through the rebuild of McMullen Manor and the Verona Housing Project, the “bank has made up its mind to leave.”
In fact, the bank has been clear, since December, that the branch will be closing in the coming months.
The building will be sold off, and the ATM will be closing as well.
“It was a difficult decision to close the branch,” said the BMO rep. “There is not enough traffic coming through the doors to justify keeping the branch open.”
The same logic resulted in the decision to close the ATM in Verona as well, he added.
Larry Teal was one of the customers who was seeking answers. He was told that BMO is committed to offering the best service to their customers, and in most cases that is by bringing the convenience of online banking to more customers. Recognising, however, that for some seniors in particular, that is not a welcome option.
When Larry Teal said he was likely to move his money out of the bank because he did not want his account to be transferred to the branch on Gardiners Road in Kingston, he was told the bank would help him move his money to another BMO branch, or to another financial institution, if that was what he wanted.
Fletcher Young, who was the principal organiser of the protest in front of the bank, said that it should look for savings in the amount of money it spends on its highest earning employees, instead savings from cutting service to its most vulnerable customers.
The Verona BMO branch is slated for closure on Friday, June 19. All of the branch employees are being offered positions at branches in other locations, according to BMO management
