Wells Fargo Bank has announced that the Sweet Home branch will close Sept. 12.
Customers have received letters informing them of the closure.
“This is not an easy decision or one that we take lightly,” said Ruben Pulido, vice president, corporate communications.
“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 closures. In the case of our branch in Sweet Home, we have seen a decrease in customer traffic over the last few years.”
Wells Fargo has been been under scrutiny by U.S. regulators, who proposed earlier this year that the bank pay $1 billion in penalties to resolve probes into auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses.
The U.S. Federal Reserve in February imposed restrictions on the bank’s growth, forbidding it to expand its balance sheet beyond 2017 levels until it makes internal changes that addressed risk management.
Wells Fargo has been struggling to reduce expenses, but failed to keep a leash on costs in the quarter despite Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan’s vow to slash $4 billion in costs by 2019 by closing hundreds of branches and taking other measures.
Customers may continue to use the branch as they always have, Pulido said. After it closes, customers can visit the Lebanon branch, located at 809 South Main St., approximately 14 miles away.
“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,” Pulido said.
“As a result, more transactions are happening outside the branch.
“We value our customers and will keep them informed of any changes that may impact their everyday banking.”
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.