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Fenwick RBC branch to close

Merger with Fonthill planned for April After 112 years, Fenwick’s RBC branch will be closing its doors and merging with its Fonthill Branch.
RBC_Fenwick
Fenwick’s RBC. VOICE PHOTO

Merger with Fonthill planned for April

After 112 years, Fenwick’s RBC branch will be closing its doors and merging with its Fonthill Branch. The closure, which will be effective April 28, was announced to branch staff in November, and clients have been notified of the planned shuttering. RBC is holding a public meeting on January 3 from 6-8 PM at the Fonthill branch.

In a statement, RBC’s Niagara Regional Vice President Manon Johanns attributes the closure to the branch’s close proximity (seven kilometres) to that in Fonthill, and “because technology is changing people’s banking habits.”

According to Johanns, traffic has “declined considerably in our Fenwick branch,” adding that the branch’s hours had already been substantially reduced as a result of this diminishment. Johanns emphasizes that the merger “does not mean we are leaving this community,” and said that RBC has offered to meet with each client and build a personalized plan for them for the shift. RBC will be keeping a full-service ATM in Fenwick, but did not respond to inquiries as to what will become of the rest of the building.

Despite the bank’s efforts, many Fenwick residents are displeased with the proposed merger.

“They told me that this does not mean that they’re leaving the community,” says Sherry Rusin, who has lived in Fenwick and banked at the RBC branch there for nearly 30 years. “Yes it does. RBC is moving, and that is not supporting the community.”

Rusin quickly wrote a letter to RBC outlining her opposition to the planned closure, and says that “those who have issues with the closure should to attend the public meeting on January 3 to protest.”

According to Rusin, RBC does not calculate as foot traffic visits to the bank from clients who registered their accounts elsewhere. “My accounts are registered in St. Catharines, since that’s where the agricultural division is,” says Rusin. “So all the times that I go into the Fenwick branch, I’m not being counted. And it’s the same for everyone else who registered elsewhere.”

RBC did not respond to request for comment on the method of counting branch visits.

Rusin says that she is not simply advocating on her own behalf. “I talked to a lot of my elderly neighbours, who don’t want to bank online or on the telephone,” she says. “They want to talk to a real person.”

Rusin says that there are over one hundred migrant workers, typically travelling by bike, who use the RBC bank during the summer.

She points also to the effect that the bank has in drawing people to Fenwick’s downtown.

“It’s taking away a vital part of the town,” she says. “People come to the bank, and then they go to the Avondale, or to one of the restaurants. And with the rise in minimum wage, things are going to be tough for the restaurants. We don't want to lose them.”

Rusin suspects that many of RBC’s current Fenwick client won’t go to Fonthill.

“It will be much harder for them to get to the Fonthill branch—there’s very little parking, and the traffic is terrible. They’ll go to Welland instead. It’s the same distance, and the traffic isn’t as bad.”

Rusin speculates that RBC will be made painfully aware of the insufficient parking situation at the Fonthill branch when those attending the public meeting in Fonthill aren’t able to find parking spots for the event.

Rusin isn’t the only one to suggest that the Fenwick RBC’s clients won’t follow the merger to Fonthill.

“People from Fenwick will go to Welland before they go to Fonthill,” says Gary Chambers, another Fenwick resident. “And when they go to Welland, they won’t be banking with RBC.” Chambers says that despite the Fonthill branch’s close proximity, its location on Highway 20—with traffic and limited parking—makes it an unattractive spot for many.

“They’ve reduced the hours so much in Fenwick, there’s nothing on Saturdays, and nothing in the evenings, so it’s no surprise the traffic is down. But there’s money there. People in Fenwick save. People in Fonthill spend,” says Chambers.

Chambers also points to the proposed developments in Fenwick, and says that in his meeting with an RBC representative from Toronto, she was unaware of the planned growth.

“There’s been all this talk of amenities in Fenwick for new growth, and the amenities we’ll get. Well, the hardware store has closed, and now the bank will be closed. I hope that another bank comes in to fill the spot. They’ll get a lot of business.”

John Klassen, another Fenwickian dismayed by the planned closure, echoes Chambers’ comments.

“They were going to close it down fifteen or twenty years ago,” he said. “But they decided not to, and I heard after that this branch had one of the biggest money flows through it.”

RBC did not respond to request for comment as to whether planned Fenwick development was factored into the decision to merge the two branches.

 
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