The Cambria branch of Bank of America is scheduled to close Nov. 16, a bank representative confirmed Wednesday, July 11. Colleen Haggerty, with the American- based multinational financial firm’s media relations division, said no other Bank of America banking centers in San Luis Obispo County are on the closure list “at this time.”

“We constantly evaluate our retail network to ensure we are meeting evolving customer demand, and may add or consolidate banking centers as a result,” she said.

The growing use of such services as banking by Internet, smart phone and ATM contributed to the branch’s death knell.

Bank of America has been cutting costs by closing branches and cutting staff. The Los Angeles Times reported in September that the firm was set to shutter 10 percent of its branches and cut at least 40,000 jobs, about one

in six of its nearly 300,000- person workforce.

The bank’s Cambria ATM will remain active on the west side of the bank building at 2255 Main St., according to Haggerty, offering “account services such as deposits, withdraws, transfers and balance availability.”

The next nearest branch is at 390 Morro Bay Boulevard in Morro Bay.

Allan MacKinnon, president of the Cambria Community Services District Board of Directors, said in response to the news that the pending closure “shows the state of our little economy in our little town. It’s really disappointing for Cambria. But fortunately, we still have two other banks in town.”

Haggarty declined to say how many employees work at the bank branch, saying, “We do not make public the number of employees at any site.”

Inquiries by The Cambrian determined that there are five employees at the bank, all of whom expect to be transferred to other Bank of America locations within the county.

Cambria Historical Society records show that the 18- year-old Bank of Cambria opened on Oct. 6, 1928 in a new brick structure at the corner of Bridge and Main Streets. That bank closed on Feb. 16, 1933, during the “bank holiday” of the Great Depression. The bank’s assets and property were later acquired by the Bank of Italy, now known as the Bank of America.

In 1979, the bank built a new building — its current site — a few yards west.