BofA Plan to Close 5 Branches Riles Clients
Standing at ATMs and waiting in teller lines Tuesday, Bank of America customers in western Ventura County expressed confusion and anger at the news that five of the giant bank’s full-service branches will close by July 25.
“I’ve been with BofA since 1990, and now I’m out,” fumed Fillmore mother Lorena Palazio, whose branch is being “consolidated” into the Santa Paula office eight miles away. “I don’t need any more hassles in my life. I’m not going to commute for my banking.”
Closing five branches in Ventura, Camarillo, Oxnard and Fillmore reflects a years-old industry trend, officials said Tuesday: More people bank by machine. Fewer interact with tellers face to face.
Customers at the affected branches were given 120 days warning of the closures via letters dated March 27. After three months, customer accounts will automatically be transferred to a nearby branch. Customers at the Telephone Road branch in east Ventura, for example, will have their accounts switched to Victoria Avenue.
That is, if they continue banking with BofA.
In east Ventura, some customers pondered jumping ship, particularly senior citizens who avoid busy Victoria Avenue when possible. Nathan Burola, 76, was among them.
“I think it’s a rotten deal they’re closing this one,” said the retired engineer, who has held a BofA account since before its name was changed from Bank of Italy in 1930. “I’m going to go to another bank. . . . I think it’s an injustice what they’re doing to the old guys.”
A loyal BofA customer for 45 years, 71-year-old Oscar Montgomery said he is thinking about switching to Wells Fargo, which he considers senior citizen-friendly. And he isn’t optimistic about banking choices in the future, given the industry’s merger-mania. “One day they’ll be about three banks, and they’ll be knocking you for all kinds of charges,” Montgomery predicted.
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Compounding the confusion was a list of still-open branches sent to customers with their notification letters. It listed only 11 full-service branches in the county as options for transferring accounts, even though 23 branches remain. A company spokesman could not explain that discrepancy Tuesday.
The changing nature of banking prompted the closures, according to Harvey Radin, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Bank of America, the state’s biggest banking concern. Citing competitive reasons, Radin refused to reveal the number of customers at the Ventura County branches that will close.
“In the majority of cases, we’re consolidating where Bank of America branches are in close proximity, where there’s overlap,” he said. “Where we have branches in close proximity, we find that we’re competing with ourselves.”
It is “very, very doubtful” that any of the 50 or so employees working in the branches in Ventura, Camarillo, Oxnard and Fillmore will lose their jobs in the consolidation, he said. Instead, the employees will be transferred to jobs at other branches or will join a corps of liaison officers who will help frequent customers with their transactions.
After the closures, Ventura County will have 23 full-service branches from Ojai to Thousand Oaks. Bank of America--the primary unit of BankAmerica Corp.--will also keep open scads of automated teller machines and banking centers in Lucky supermarkets across the county.
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Though the closures concerned customers, at least one independent bank saw the announcement--part of a worldwide restructuring--as a boon to smaller banks. The 21-branch Santa Barbara Bank & Trust is already eyeing Ventura County bank buildings discarded in the rampant mergers and downsizing of the banking business.
“We really feel like there are a lot of customers in Ventura County that want high-touch service,” said Sue Chadwick, regional vice president of the bank, which has four west Ventura County branches. “That’s what [we] offer . . . There’s room for [all] of us, and customers for all of us.”
She added: “There are a lot of empty bank buildings right now and a lot of people looking at them. We’re definitely looking.”
The Ventura County branch closures are part of the second wave of shutdowns in a worldwide BofA restructuring announced in November. No county banks were affected by the first wave of closures. This year, the nation’s third-largest commercial bank is set to close 120 branches in California, eliminating up to 3,700 jobs. Although he said it’s unlikely, Radin could not rule out more county branch closures in coming months.
“We will be announcing other consolidations throughout the state of California in 1997,” he said. “I don’t have the specifics because we haven’t made those announcements to our customers and employees yet.”
On Arneill Road in Camarillo, customers bemoaned the inconvenience that will accompany the branch’s shutdown. They also mourned the loss of human contact: gossiping in line with other customers and chatting up the teller.
In the quest for profitability, banks often forsake customer service, said James Sims, 61, who has personal savings, business and retirement accounts with BofA.
“They’ve absolutely, completely lost the human touch,” said Sims, the owner of an elderly care home in Camarillo.
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He said the branch closures are further indication that Bank of America is moving toward mechanized, less personal service. He pointed to its automated telephone line as another example, saying customers must wait too long and deal with too many recorded voices.
“That’s the way things are today--there’s no humans involved,” Sims said.
Irma Granados had a different concern about the closure of the Village Square branch in Camarillo: It will likely waste 15 to 20 minutes of her time each day.
Granados said she makes daily trips to the branch to take care of finances for her company, Trans-Care Transmissions in Camarillo. She will do her banking at the Ponderosa Drive branch, but will likely face much longer waits in line.
“It’s a little disappointing,” she said.
Kate Folmar is a staff writer, and Mick Green and Chris Chi are correspondents. Photographer Spencer Weiner contributed to this story.
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Accounts to Be Transferred
The five Bank of America branches set to close in Ventura County, and the branches that will take over accounts from the closed offices, are:
* Camarillo: 1656 Arneill Road, into 2400 E. Ponderosa Drive
* East Ventura: 9493 Telephone Road, into 1130 S. Victoria Ave.
* Fillmore: 566 Sespe Ave., into 715 E. Main St., Santa Paula.
* Oxnard: 606 N. Ventura Road, into 1855 N. Oxnard Blvd.
* South Oxnard: 455 South A St., into 2475 Saviers Road.
