A Question for my US Readers

[ecosophia]

Have any of you noticed sudden, unexplained, multiweek closures of bank branches in your vicinity?  The reason I'm asking is that it's happened twice now here in East Providence: branches of more than one bank suddenly shuttered, with no explanation, no warning, just lights off, doors locked, and a photocopied announcement taped to the door. 

I'm well aware that there could be any number of perfectly ordinary reasons for this, and there could also be a nonordinary but not especially problematic reason for it, too (namely, a coronavirus infection among staff members). That said, this is a sign I've been watching for, and if it isn't simply a function of business as usual (or as unusual), it could be a sign that the excreta are getting dangerously close to the rotary impeller. 

Have you seen anything like this, dear reader?  Inquiring Druids want to know. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

At least one local bank branch closed briefly and suddenly because of a coronavirus infection among its staff, which they didn't want to admit to until they were pressed hard by a neighborhood blog writer. (That blogger has more journalistic instincts than most journalists.) Whether that closure was multiweek, I do not recall. It's back up and running again with mostly normal hours.

[syfen]

Nothing to report from Madison, Archdruid. Everything is proceeding as normally as possible for the current year.

follow up

[syfen]

So, I asked on my facebook and several people I know who work at banks explained. The closures are related to the covid outbreak. The mysterious branch closures are outbreaks at specific branchs that the bank doesn't want to publically announce, and several other businesses are following similar protocol.

[stcathalexandria]

Yes, the Wells Fargo branch up the street from me closed in May of this year after being in that location over 40 years (it was a Wachovia before merger and Bank of PA before merger). We also had a Santander bank close in the next township along with a local credit union branch. Both of those also had been in their locations for 30 years or longer.

Did the coin shortage hit Rhode Island? We still have handwritten signs at the dollar store saying that they can't get coins to make change. The one vendor at the farmer's market said he stocked up on 3 months worth of change he would normally use just so he has it because he transacts in cash.

[ecosophia]

We had a coin shortage for a few months but it's been over with for a while now. It also seems to have been partly an artifact of bank policies: one of our banks had significant problems getting quarters, the other did not.

[(Anonymous)]

Canadian here: two data points. The first is that for the past two weeks the ATM near where I live has been out of cash. Constantly. I've seen someone dropping cash off, and a line quickly forms with everyone taking out as much money as they can.

The second is that I called my bank, made sure they were open, and went earlier this week only to find that in the half hour it took me to get ready and get there, they had closed for no obvious reason. I took everything out immediately after that, worried this might mean a bank run is either starting or will be soon.

Are you worried about that as well?

[ecosophia]

That's certainly one serious possibility to consider. Where in Canada are you?

[(Anonymous)]

Midwest here. Some of the banks will only allow X number of people in per day, but none have closed completely.

—Lady Cutekitten

Bank closures

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't seen anything like that in either rural or urban areas of the mid Atlantic. I can't speak to suburbs.

[deborah_bender]

I have not seen this in my town. The Bank of America branch in my town closed within weeks of the March shelter in place order and shows no sign of reopening. I was not particularly surprised because this branch had been understaffed for months; evidently upper management did not think it was profitable. B of A has closed down several other small branches in the county, consolidating business in the larger branches.

The local branch of a smaller bank closed somewhat after the B of A. A branch of a different bank which has never seemed busy was open as of last week. I'll keep an eye on it.

The Wells Fargo branch in my town stayed open with rigorous pandemic precautions and is doing normal business.

[fringewood]

I haven't seen any but a quick internet search garnered

Pennsylvania
https://news.yahoo.com/first-national-bank-closing-several-085608685.html

Oregon (mostly Portland)
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/us-bank-closing-26-portland-area-branches-9-others-in-oregon/283-fc858696-4713-4e11-9a5e-5117c84ec7b8

Minnesota
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/u-s-bank-closes-8-minnesota-branches-permanently

[ecosophia]

Many thanks for these!

[ecosophia]

Thank you, everyone who's commented so far!

[(Anonymous)]

What does the note on the bank door say?

—Lady Cutekitten

[brenainn]

Nothing in my area of Indiana.

[(Anonymous)]

Negative here in the Greater New York area, however we have had some other chain store locations close temporarily due to COVID infections among staff. Will keep an eye out, though...you never know.

Axé
Fra' Lupo

meanwhile, in the Mountain West...

[barefootwisdom]

Around here, most banks seem to be "lobby closed, drive-through open" since the corona panic began. (Oddly, you can now get notary services through the drive-through! You put the documents and your ID in the vacuum tube, it goes into the building, and comes back with a notary's seal.)

But...

The week before Thanksgiving, I stopped by a branch of my bank just after 2pm on a weekday afternoon, to find the drive-through closed, without even a sign! I'm not sure if that branch has reopened; after the holiday, I took care of my business at another branch across town.

FWIW, the bank in question is a modestly-sized operation: based in my town, with a whopping three locations here, and branches in about other dozen cities and towns around the state.

[methylethyl]

Haven't noticed it recently, but also rarely go to the bank. We did find the local branch of our main bank unexpectedly closed a few months ago, due to COVID.

Some banking changes of note *have* happened in the last six months, though. Our bank got bought out or mergered with another bank around that same time and changed its name... which set off some alarm bells for us (along with a couple of customer-service fiascos), and we have been looking for another bank to move our business to.

One of the institutions we have been considering-- the old credit union my parents have used forever-- recently changed its status from a federally-chartered credit union to a state-chartered credit union. This gets them out from under federal interest rate regulations. Not sure what that signifies in the grand scheme, but it seems to be a response to not being able to make money with the artificially-suppressed federal interest rates.

[(Anonymous)]

Your mention of state vs federal charters is really fascinating and is going to spark a research jag for me, so thank you for mentioning it! Been wanting to switch to a credit union for awhile because the big bank that I currently use has a lot of.. hmm.. self-serving political-economic ideas, shall we say.

[(Anonymous)]

Rural Michigan here – I haven't seen or heard of anything like this.

[barefootwisdom]

And on a much lighter note, thank you for enriching my vocabulary with the word "fewmet"!

[(Anonymous)]

Our main Wells Fargo closed months ago, they kept an in-store "branch office" open. Was all over the paper at the time: they were going to close, they did close. They have been unable to sell or lease the middle of downtown (such as it is) building and parking lot.

I haven't seen any unannounced bank closings. My credit union seems to be doing fine: moderately busy but not unusually so for this time of year.

BoysMom, reporting from the Intermountain Desert Region.

[(Anonymous)]

West Michigan here. There's a mini-branch of a bank (sorry, can't recall which one) in the grocery store I shop at that has been closed for a couple weeks now. I assumed it was Covid related, but never looked into it, as I don't actually bank there.

[laruse]

If they are state-chartered banks, you can check with the RI regulating body (in VA we have the SCC, looks like RI has the DBR). In VA, several state-chartered banks were closed during the Great Recession due to extreme finanical distress. These closures felt very cloak-and-dagger - an Order closing the bank would be drafted - the name of the institution wouldn't even be put on the order until the moment the Judges signed it. Then it would be entered with the Clerk and the attorney for the Bureau of Financial Institutions would leave directly for the bank, aiming to arrive around 4:59pm on a Friday - to close them down with the least amount of damage possible.
There is very good reason for the utter secrecy before it becomes public record - banks are not closed by a regulator unless they are so deeply short on cash they are at risk for collapse. If that kind of news got public - boom - instant run on the bank and everyone suffers losses (these are state-chartered - not FDIC insured). The States step in and close the bank, spend the weekend working with another institution to take it over in Receivership, and then usually, the bank reopens for business (not quite as usual) the following Monday morning with essentially a new owner, some kind of financial reserves from the new ownership (or state) and at that time, an orderly transition for the customers can begin - each case will be different how it works out in the end.
It is not really as dark and evil government-takeover sounding as it probably seems. I hated the process of closing banks because those were dark grim times (2008-2009) and I knew people were hurting, but the Bureau of Financial Institutions and the attorneys I worked for really were trying to reduce and prevent pain and financial losses that would ripple out even more broadly into the communities these banks (and they were ALWAYS small banks) operated in. Job losses associated with the receiverships were minimal, but you knew it still had to hurt the rank and file employees of the bank.
To confirm whether or not these banks were closed by the State, you can check the docket of the DBR - most regulators post these Orders on websites (usually but not always readily searchable) once the Orders are signed and made part of the public record.

[ecosophia]

Rhode Island had state-chartered banks until the early 1990s, when the state deposit insurance organization collapsed due to spectacular graft and the state banking system seized up completely. Some political careers crashed and burned as a result, and now as far as I know every bank in the state is now federally insured and regulated.

A Few PNC Branches Closed Over the Summer

[sothismedias]

Hi, a PNC bank branch closed here in Cincinnati, but there is one on the same street, only a about a mile away or so up the hill. I think there may have been some other branch closings of various banks. That was already here and done by this summer, and from what we heard -one of the teller's happened to be at a Freemasonic memorial service for my cousin who passed away in June (not-covid related), it seemed to be a matter of them saving on rental of spaces, and moving employees around. No one got fired, but again that was in July when I saw the teller.

JP Moore reporting from Cincinnati.

(Before posting I thought I'd do a quick search for my area and saw this article from the Cincinnati Business Courier. It's an announcement from October 23 about a bunch of 5/3 banks closing. They are one of the bigger banks in this area.:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/10/23/fifth-third-closing-dozens-of-branches-including.html
)

[(Anonymous)]

I have not seen any unexpected bank closures in the small northern NH town (population around 6000) I live in, though they have closed their lobbies to walk-ins and are only allowing drive-thru transactions because of the corona surge here in the state. The local banks are mostly regional so may not be subject to unexpected permanent closure the way national-wide banks are who might be belt tightening. (though of course things could always change...)

Pocket change still seems to be plentiful though the signs about coins shortages can still be seen here and there in different stores. I just unloaded 25 cents worth of pennies at the local RiteAide for which the clerk seemed very happy about. So I think depending where you are, the shortage may be more apparent than real.

Will keep an eye peeled for further developments and any potential flying fewmets....

Puce Somnolent Filbert/JLfromNH

No bank failures, but covid

[(Anonymous)]

Neptune's Dolphins here.
I check bank failures weekly. So far only one reported. Will check this week when report comes out.

Meanwhile, our post office which is a major hub in our area is closed down. Covid has spread throughout the postal service here.

Re: No bank failures, but covid

[(Anonymous)]

Still me. I checked. Nada for national banks.

Walgreens

[(Anonymous)]

All the banks in my area, rural central Minnesota seem to be operating. My personal bank closed its Lobby when the state mask mandate went up. So it is drive up only.
Walgreens however was closed last week. No reason given. I assumed too many workers out with Covid. We have a lot of sick people around here lately.

[brendhelm]

North Texas here.

The branch whose ATM I usually withdraw cash from is fine, no indication of any shortages, and as far as I know is still open for in-person banking (I haven't needed to do any). I think the lobby was closed for several weeks longer than the stay-at-home order lasted, though. The branch at which I originally opened my account did close, but that happened back in 2017.

A couple of businesses have had coin-shortage issues, requesting either card payment, exact change, or "round up to the nearest dollar for charity".

[ill_made_knight]

none here in south new jersey... we've actually had 2 new branches open... one a regional and the other an s and l...

Yes

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, I have noticed this happen several times in the immediate vicinity of my work; I am a junior accountant and have to make bank runs multiple times a week. Usually the note says "Closed due to COVID" or some such thing, so I assumed it was because of the virus.

You're right, however- if those were lies, this could be far more serious.