The community of Fraser Lake took a hit last year when their only bank announced it would be closing its doors, but now it looks like there is a happy ending.
CIBC officially discontinued operations in Fraser Lake on September 12th and now Integris Credit Union has announced they will be opening a branch in the same building CIBC previously occupied.
“Our community residents, surrounding area, and local businesses were devastated when CIBC announced its closure,” said Mayor Sarrah Storey, who added that for communities that have connectivity issues, not having a bank can be a serious problem.
“If you live on Francois Lake you may not have access to the internet to check your bank balance, you might not be able to do transfers or other things as easy as people might be able to do in the bigger centres,” said Storey. “The big issue is mostly for businesses, seniors, and low-income community members who have a harder time getting to the bank.”
Even just over a month with no bank has been a problem for Fraser Lake.
“What we were seeing was some of the businesses had to leave at 7 a.m. to drive 45 minutes one way and 45 minutes back just to get change. When you are going through change and don’t have access to a bank and the only ATM in Fraser Lake is running out of money, you have issues.”
Storey added that while CIBC’s announcement was an initial shock, the company has been very community-minded throughout the process and has worked with Integris to take over the building.
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