Grand Mananers heard about the loss of another island service on January 12, with Scotiabank's announcement that it plans to close its Grand Harbour branch in August. Services will be moved to the St. George Scotiabank branch, and taking the ferry schedule and reservation cut off times into account, customers will face an eight to nine hour round trip to do their banking. The Grand Manan Scotiabank branch has been open for 116 years.
      With the planned closure of the bank in August, if another bank doesn't open a branch on the island, all of the Fundy Isles will have lost their banks, with the Charlotte County Credit Union having closed its Campobello branch in 2009 and the Deer Island Credit Union having shuttered its doors in 2010.
      A media release states that Scotiabank "will be bringing advice and solutions to more customers in more locations across Atlantic Canada" to "enhance Scotiabank's branch network and address the evolving needs of customers and their greater demand for convenience, self serve channels and virtual solutions." Changes to the Atlantic region branch network include "an investment of over $3 million to revitalize and refresh branch locations ensuring top-of-the-line facilities and consolidating some branches into neighboring locations." The release focuses on a new Halifax remote contact centre, Scotiabank's first virtual branch and investment in digital technology to enable virtual access to advisors. The Grand Manan closure is mentioned in one line at the bottom.
      Mayor Bonnie Morse says the village's first notice was a phone call from District Vice President Scott Allen. No real reasons were given in the conversation, she says, adding that she tried pushing for an explanation and was told "the decision was made as part of a broader scope" and "wasn't made lightly." Surprised by the call, she suggested off the top of her head a few ideas like reduced opening days or retaining tellers if not the investment services, or "anything reasonable," but she says Allen wasn't receptive and she felt he was "reading from a script."
      The lack of explanation was frustrating, she says. She questions that there could be too few customers or too few transactions. While some people have moved their banking off the island, a significant number of larger businesses still use the branch. She adds that there are always people in there and cars in the parking lot, "so we were really caught off guard. There's a lot of things that happen at that bank," and despite talk of a cashless society, she points out that people "deal quite a bit in cash."
      The following week, customers -- and some deceased former customers -- received letters signed by Allen explaining that "after careful consideration of the market" Scotiabank will relocate its services to the St. George branch, which is "much better equipped to provide the one on one financial services" customers expect. The letter promises a "seamless" transition, "access to your accounts at all times," "the flexibility to seek advice at any location that may be more convenient" and a secure transfer of safety deposit boxes. It encourages customers to use digital banking.
      An inquiry to Allen was referred to the Toronto office of Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a public relations company, which forwarded a statement from a Scotiabank spokesperson. The decision was made "as a result of a fulsome business review. Like any business, we regularly review our branch network, the number of customers that we serve in the market area and the way that those customers are doing their banking. We feel that this relocation will help us provide better service and greater resources to our customers in both the Grand Manan and St. George communities." The current primary focus is to communicate changes to affected customers, and the statement reiterates the promise of a smooth transition. It encourages customers to set up automatic transactions and use online and telephone banking options. The contact centre at 1 800 4 SCOTIA offers priority line service for seniors over 75. "Our teams are committed to working with customers on an individual basis to address their specific concerns and find solutions that work for them." The statement concludes, "Scotiabank has a long standing relationship with the community in Grand Manan, and we want to assure them that our support will continue."

Options being eyed
      It's now up to the village to try to find a solution, whether convincing Scotiabank to reverse its decision or finding another financial provider. The village council met to discuss the closure on January 20. They have begun reaching out to credit unions and will investigate what other communities in similar situations have done.
      Convincing another bank to locate on Grand Manan "will be an uphill battle," Morse says, one that has "no guidebook." Island businesses in particular are "in a crunch," and she thinks they will switch their banking to another provider, given an option.
      "I never want to give up hope," she says, but there are "lots of questions" for the village to deal with. For example, the current building belongs to Scotiabank, so it or another would have to be acquired for a new provider. "Do we want to invest?" she wonders.
      A telephone conference call open to residents was scheduled by Scotiabank for January 26.