Bank of America leaves SLO County community after decades of service: ‘A real bummer’
After serving Cambria for nearly a century in various forms, Bank of America has officially left the North Coast community.
The banking company removed its ATM at 746 Main St. in Cambria on Sept 26.
That means Bank of America’s Cambria clientele must rely on online banking services or drive at least 30 miles to reach the nearest brick-and-mortar branch.
According to the company’s website, the closest Bank of America offices are at 1511 Spring St. in Paso Robles and 171 N. Santa Rosa St. in San Luis Obispo.
There are also Bank of America ATMs in Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Los Osos, Morro Bay, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo.
Bank officials have previously said that past reductions in services and locations were due in part to increased popularity of online services and reduced in-person traffic.
History of Bank of America, predecessors in Cambria
According to a Cambria Historical Society report, the bank’s original building in Cambria’s East Village area was built in 1928.
The financial institution first operated as the Bank of Cambria, which closed during the Great Depression. Bank of Italy, which changed its name to Bank of America in 1930, took over in Cambria after World War II.
Bank of America built a new Cambria office just down the block in 1979, but left there about a decade ago.
The building sold in 2013 to Heritage Oaks Bank, and Bank of America installed its stand-alone ATM at 734 Main St., nestled between two stores.
Pacific Premier Bank merged with Heritage Oaks Bank in 2017, and the Cambria bank located at 2255 Main St. took on the new name.
Cambria’s first Bank of America building is now the home of the Vault Gallery and Sounding Main women’s clothing store at 2289 Main St., with certified public accountant Lynn Singer’s office upstairs and Linn’s Restaurant next door.
Customers and neighbors react to SLO County ATM removal
Community members reacted on social media to news of the removal of Bank of America’s Cambria ATM with sadness and distress.
“Bank of America ATM on Main Street is GONE!” one woman posted on Nextdoor.com. “First the branch left Cambria several years ago, and the Morro Bay branch followed suit, and now there is not even an ATM here in town.
“I cannot go running to SLO or Paso every time I need to make a deposit or draw money!”
Nearby entrepreneurs are feeling the loss, too, because the ATM attracted people to a shared courtyard leading to several shops.
Having the ATM gone “is a real bummer,” said Alan Fraser, co-founder of The Love Story Project.
“That ATM was highly used … (and) a bit of a draw for us,” he said.
Fraser said that he knows “a lot of local people just because they’d go to the ATM and then stop in. Now I’ll only see those folks occasionally, if at all.”.
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 2:17 PM.
