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A PROMINENT financial institution has shuttered three branches in the same state.
While the closures mean less in-person assistance for local clients, the bank’s CEO has promised it will leave benefits for the community.
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Select account holders with First National Bank and Trust Company in southwestern Oklahoma will be affected, per Oklahoma State University-run radio station KOSU.
First National Bank and Trust has been around in Oklahoma since before it even became a state.
It was founded in 1892 as Citizens Bank, before becoming First National Bank and Trust in 1938 after a merger, per its website.
In 2024, there are 14 of the bank’s branches across Oklahoma.
Still, that count will drop to 11 after First National Bank and Trust shutters branches in Alex, Cyril, and Rush Springs.
They are expected to close in the coming weeks, but no final date of business has been announced.
Mike VanSickle, chief experience officer with First National Bank and Trust, noted that an uptick in online banking was a partial reason for the closures.
First National Bank and Trust found that customers in those three areas were using their debit cards and mobile banking applications far more than visiting branches.
STILL AVAILABLE
“What we did is we listened to those communities, and they’re doing banking online,” VanSickle told KOSU.
“Certainly, there will be those that will go to our locations, and now they’ll have to drive 18 miles.”
“But the vast majority of our customer base is utilizing our electronic channels,” he added.
Customers who frequented the Alex, Cyril, or Rush Springs branches could head to the next nearest location for full service.
However, VanSickle noted that ATMs would be installed in the closure areas for deposits and withdrawals.
Managers from the shuttering branches will also continue to assist the local communities from the headquarters out of Chickasha.
The last thing we wanted to do is leave any of those communities high and dry.
Mike VanSickle
Along with the ATMs, First National Bank and Trust plans to invest in the football programs of the Alex, Cyril, and Rush Springs areas, along with donating the buildings where the branches were housed to it.
Other banks have also confirmed closures in recent months.
BANKING BLOODBATH
Citizens Bank noted in October that it would shutter 15 branches across six states in the northeast.
Most, including a location in East Providence, Rhode Island, will close for good on January 22, 2025, according to what a spokesperson told Providence Business News (PRN).
At least 29 Citizens Bank branches have closed in Rhode Island since 2014.
The majority of the shutdowns took place during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
In 2024, at least 79 branches among institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo have closed.
Brick-and-mortar banking has seen a significant decline overall since 2009, with 20,000 locations shuttering since that time, per the FDIC.
At least 18 banks are also closing for good inside Walmart stores nationwide by the end of the year.
