This SLO County town is losing its only brick-and-mortar bank branch: ‘So sad’
The only brick-and-mortar bank branch in Cayucos is due to close in a few months, according to letters received recently by account holders.
Mechanics Bank plans to shutter its Cayucos branch on Dec. 10.
The Cayucos office is the only Mechanics Bank branch in San Luis Obispo County targeted for closure, Greg Jones, the company’s director of communications, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Jones said he wasn’t aware if other Mechanics Bank branches elsewhere in California might close, adding that California is the only U.S. state in which the firm has branches.
Mechanics Bank currently has 14 branches throughout San Luis Obispo County, including locations in Morro Bay, Cambria and Los Osos, according to the company’s website.
Jones said all current accounts at the Cayucos branch will be “automatically transferred to the Morro Bay branch at 251 Harbor St.,” and all those account holders have been notified by letter.
Mechanics Bank is “looking at the possibility of maintaining an ATM in Cayucos,” Jones said, which would make it easier for customers to make deposits and get cash locally.
“We’re working with local community business owners about a suitable location,” he said, but no decision has been made yet.
Jones said he didn’t have readily available the number of employees or account holders would be affected by the closure of the Cayucos branch.
Raelene Todd, Cayucos branch manager, said she wasn’t authorized to release that information or any other details about the closure.
She did, however, confirm that she’d be moving to the Morro Bay branch as its manager.
“I’m not going to lose my customer base,” Todd said. “If they move to Morro Bay and I get to move with them, I’m blessed.”
According to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) records, the Cayucos bank building opened in December 1965, and became a Mechanics Bank branch at the end of August, 2019, when the firm acquired Rabobank N.A.
The closure comes as Cayucos experiences a drop in its population.
According to preliminary U.S. Census Bureau figures, Cayucos had 2,505 residents in 2020, down 3.4% from the 2010 nationwide survey.
According to Jones, the Cayucos branch closure is part of a wave of shuttered bank branches across the state and the nation.
Jones said the “decline in demand for in-person service” for branch transactions has been prompted by an increase in demand for online services. That decline was exacerbated by coronavirus pandemic restrictions and shutdowns.
When the number of transactions at a branch goes down and stays down, it’s less economically practical to keep that branch open.
During an Aug. 28 speech in Texas, FDIC Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams said that “Small banks are slowly disappearing from America’s landscape.”
“Based on 2020 Summary of Deposit data, 613 (U.S.) counties are only served by community banking offices, 132 counties have only one banking office, and 34 counties have no banking offices at all,” she said.
She noted that community banks “support the small businesses, farms, libraries and entrepreneurs that help small towns, rural communities, and inner-city locations stay economically relevant and even thrive.
Posting on social media on Tuesday, community member Toni LeGras called news of the Mechanics Bank closure “so sad.”
“They have no idea how adversely this will affect our community, since it is the only bank in town,” LeGras said. “All of us, businesses and individuals alike will now need to drive to Morro Bay for all banking needs. This will be especially difficult for the seniors in our community.”
Comments on the closing of Mechanics Banks’ Cayucos branch may be mailed to the FDIC at 25 Jessie Street, Ecker Square, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94105-2780.
