(Source: The Pueblo Chieftain)
By Dennis Darrow, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Sep. 15--Bank of the West, citing a crowded local market, will close its lone Pueblo branch on Dec. 4, a bank spokesman said Monday.
The bank operates in a leased building at the Midtown Shopping Center.
Bank of the West opened at the site in 2004. The building previously housed a Community First Bank branch and, prior to 1998, a Banc One branch.
The branch employs five people.
The closure is specific to the Pueblo branch, Bank of the West spokesman John Stafford said. In Southern Colorado, the bank also operates branches in Trinidad and Kiowa, he said. Nationally, the San Francisco-based bank operates in 19 states, concentrated most heavily in California and other West Coast states.
In Colorado, the bank operates more than 80 sites with its heaviest presence in the Denver Metro area and the state's ski areas, Stafford said.
The bank is a subsidiary of France banking giant BNP Paribas.
Stafford called the Pueblo closure a market-based decision.
"We are continuously evaluating and adjusting our branch network in the 19 states served by Bank of the West. To more efficiently serve our customers, we open and consolidate branches as market conditions suggest. Pueblo is a very well-banked market," Stafford said in a statement.
Customers of the Pueblo branch are welcome to stay with the bank via its online banking network, Stafford said. Otherwise, the bank will help customers transfer accounts to other local banks, he said.
"We're going to work over the next few months to assist those of our Pueblo customers who choose not to remain with us," he said.
Letters to customers explaining the bank closure went out last week, he said.
The closure announcement is the second in recent months by Pueblo banks. The former Wachovia branch bank at 720 N. Main is closing as part of a consolidation with new owner Wells Fargo.
ddarrow@chieftain.com
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