Conexus to close Spy Hill branch

June 4, 2019, 5:27 am

Conexus Credit Union has announced the closure of the Spy Hill branch and eight other branches across Saskatchewan, effective end of business day on Oct. 2, 2019.

In addition to Spy Hill, branches in Chamberlain, Cupar, Drake, Middle Lake, Mossbank, Young and two in Regina will be closing in the fall.

“Decisions on branch closures are among the most difficult for us as a co-operative,” said Conexus CEO Eric Dillon in the release.

“While respecting our past, we must build a future that allows us to best serve our members by offering flexibility in our delivery of service and that aligns with our members’ ever-changing needs and expectations.”

Members were informed of the closures on Friday, and over the next four months the credit union work with members one-on-one to “understand their individual needs” and find solutions to meet those needs, said the release.

Conexus has cited a move to digital as one of the reasons for the closures. "Banking is changing rapidly," Conexus said in a news release. "Our members are more mobile than ever, they’re accessing our services much differently than they have in the past, they’re using more digital services and using much less cash.

"To keep pace with our members’ ever-changing needs, we’re continually working hard to invest in our people and our digital channels to align with those changing expectations for our credit union. While recognizing our members’ changing needs, and following an ongoing review of our service delivery channels, we have made the decision to close nine of our branches."

“Decisions on branch closures are among the most difficult for us as a cooperative.” said Dillon. “While respecting our past, we must build a future that allows us to best serve our members by offering flexibility in our delivery of service and that aligns with our members’ ever-changing needs and expectations.”

"No longer is banking a place to go, but something we do, regardless of location," he said. "Today, we’re more focused than ever on our purpose of improving the financial well-being of our members, and we know that it’s the financial advice we provide that makes the most meaningful impact for our members.

"We’ll continue to proactively provide the advice and solutions that our members’ need and we’ll do that where and when they need us to, not just in our branches.We recognize this is a big change for our members and our communities and change can be hard,. Our goal is make this change as seamless as possible for our members, and our teams are ready to walk alongside each of our members through this transition.”

Dillon said Conexus will work with members on the transition and will continue to support communities. "Over the next four months, we’ll be working with our members one-on-one to understand their individual needs and identify solutions to best meet these needs. If our members have questions on this service delivery change, we encourage them to attend one of our upcoming member information sessions or book a meeting with their financial advisor," he said.

"We will also continue to support the communities of our members, regardless of having a physical branch location. Notwithstanding that, our branch presence in communities is changing, we are committed to the co-operative principle of returning profits to our shared community. This is an important promise that we make to our members and communities and that’s not changing just because our branch structure is.”

The branches set to close in Regina are the ones at Victoria Avenue and Wallace Street and at Elphinstone Street and 5th Avenue.

A public information meeting is set for Thursday, June 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Spy Hill Community Hall