LUBBOCK, Texas– Residents raised concerns on Monday about the upcoming closure of the Wells Fargo bank in East Lubbock.
The bank sent residents an announcement in April stating the location inside the United Supermarkets off Parkway Avenue would close on July 17th.
Gordon Harris, a concerned resident, created a petition when he first discovered the news in hopes of keeping the bank open. It collected hundreds of signatures, but it did not save the bank.
“It’s going to have a great impact on our community,” said Harris.
He, along with others in the area believed it will create a greater inconvenience for individuals who do not have easy access to transportation or internet.
Ruth Villalonga, the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Wells Fargo provided KAMC News with a statement on Monday stating:
“This is not an easy decision or one that we take lightly. We continually evaluate our branch network, and make adjustments based on customer use, market factors, economic trends and competitor actions. This process leads to both expansion and consolidations. In the case of our Parkway Dr.- United Supermarket branch, we’ve seen a decrease in customer traffic over the last few years.”
“While branches continue to be important in serving our customers’ needs, we’re finding that customers are often using our wide range of digital capabilities for many of their banking needs. As a result, more transactions are happening outside the branch.”
Anton Lewis grew up in East Lubbock and recognized the growing use of electronic banking. Still, he believed many others in this area may lack the tools to complete transactions without a brick and mortar location.
“There are still community and business owners who rely on that type of convenience and you basically snatched it away from them,” said Lewis.
While Mayor Dan Pope said he cannot do anything about the closure of this bank, he said he already began reaching out to investors to try and bring a different bank to the area.
Until then, Harris said he will not stop until this community has the resources it deserves.
“It may hold us up a little bit but it’s not going to stop us. We are going to continue to be a thriving community no matter how hard they try to stop us,” said Harris.
In response to serving the people living in this area, Villalonga said “As a Texas community bank, we value our customers, and it is our goal to make their banking as easy as possible. We invite customers to bank at our nearest branch located on 1500 Broadway St. Lubbock, TX 79401. For the nearest Wells Fargo ATM, branch or motor bank, visit the ATMs/Locations link on wellsfargo.com, or find information on a mobile device using a Wells Fargo Mobile® app.”
