Residents unhappy over Belmont bank closing

About 50 Belmont and area Scotiabank customers, mainly older adults, made clear they were unhappy about the planned closing of their branch during a public meeting at Belmont Arena on Thursday night, June 2.

Several said they were long-term bank customers, sometimes for generations in their family, and they didn’t want the branch to close.

But Scotiabank District Vice-President Andrew Smith told them, “The decision has been made,” and he was there to find ways to help customers through the transition.

He noted that the bank had planned to leave a cash machine in Belmont after the branch closed but, as a result of customer concerns, that was being upgraded to a “full-service” automated banking machine that would accept deposits and allow users to pay bills.