Residents in Apsley, Ont., say seniors will be the most affected if RBC goes ahead with plans to close the its branch in the town next spring.
On Thursday night, RBC held a town hall meeting during which it confirmed plans to close the community branch and merge services and staff with a branch in the village of Lakefield about 45 kilometres south. The Apsley branch has served the cottage community of 2,400 for more than 56 years, however, RBC says customer use has declined with more people relying on internet banking.
North Kawartha Township Mayor Rick Woodcock says residents are frustrated and concerned.
“I understand the decision at King and Bay and I understand why they are doing it but I don’t agree with it,” he said. “I think rural communities are the future in Ontario.”
About 120 residents attended the meeting, which RBC did not permit media to record. Seniors at the North Kawartha Community Centre shared concerns about travel to Lakefield and a lack of internet access or slow internet speeds.
“Our internet isn’t the best in the rural area and so a lot of people are looking to have that person-to-person contact and that trust level with the bank,” said North Kawartha Township chief administrative officer Alana Solman.
Apsley’s population swells with summertime cottagers and Woodcock says the community has among the highest population of people over the age of 65 per capita in the province.
“I think the businesses are very concerned about how they transact their stuff and the vulnerable population that don’t use it in any way,” he said.
“We have people here that don’t have phones and don’t use computers and at this point, I don’t know what the solution would be.”
Amanda Kaschak-Gray, who launched the Facebook “Stop Apsley RBC Closure” page and an online petition, said she left the meeting feeling deflated.
“RBC came with no solid data,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Just a lot of lip service and (you) could tell the meeting was not held because they cared about our community’s questions or concerns … it was just part of the mandate required when closing a branch.”
RBC regional vice-president Scott Mancini says the digital world is changing the way banks and clients interact.
“The way clients bank has been changing for a number of years and what they expect from us so we’re changing in response to that,” he said.
“Clients are preferring quick do-what-they-want-when-they-want options.”
Mancini stresses RBC will continue to assist residents in the days leading up to and after the merger which begins April 20. He said RBC will look at options to set up a high-speed internet solution. RBC will maintain an ATM in the community.
Meanwhile, Woodcock has reached out to several credit unions to see if there’s any interest in setting up a branch in Apsley. Township council will examine options and evaluate their next move during its next council meeting on Tuesday.