WEYBURN - The Weyburn branch of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) is moving up their closure date to the end of September at the City Centre Mall, a fact which has angered and upset many of their clients.
The bank had initially informed their customers the branch would be closed as of March 7, 2025, and that all accounts would be moved to the Estevan branch.
An informal information session was held on Thursday at the Weyburn branch, where customers were informed of the new closure date of the end of September.
A Weyburn customer, Gary Sidloski, was present and noted there were a lot of very angry people about this situation.
“It was really unprofessional. They had sent me a letter earlier and it was undated – that was the first official notice we had,” said Sidloski. “Because of what was going on at the mall, our accounts would automatically be moved to Estevan, no discussion about it.”
He said when he got to the meeting at the branch, “there was a lot of discontent all the way to absolute anger. They told us things happened really fast. They have a contract with the mall, but somebody from the mall came and told them they were shutting the power off. They (BMO) went to SaskPower and got their own meter put in, and now they’re shutting down at the end of September.”
The Weyburn Review had a reporter, Sabrina Kraft, attend the informal session, and was not allowed to stay, and was escorted out of the branch by security. The Review has reached out to BMO through their media line, and no responses have yet come about why the closure is happening.
Sidloski said people asked to have this new date in writing, and was told that the notice would be in the mail. As of Tuesday morning, no notice had yet come from BMO about shutting down at the end of September.
He estimated there were around 36 people in the branch at the time he was there, and some were long-time customers, dealing with the bank for 50 years or more.
“The ones put out the worst are the seniors. A lot of seniors don’t like to go online because of the risks,” he said, noting the bank representatives suggested residents could lobby businesses in Weyburn to place an ATM machine in.
Even if this happened, Sidloski said, there are things like dealing with investments or term deposits that would be better with a live person.
There were no answers about why the bank isn’t just relocating elsewhere in Weyburn rather than shutting the branch down, and Sidloski suggested the bank looked to be closing the branch down regardless of what was happening with the mall.
“They aren’t really being forthright about this,” he said, noting he will probably move to another bank to do his daily banking. “You can’t just easily do that. You need a comfort level to go to another bank. It’s certainly a problem.”
