Bremer Bank closing in Colfax in November
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Bremer Bank’s Colfax branch will be closing November 8.
Because so many customers are banking online or by mobile application, Bremer Bank is closing in Colfax, said Scott Gunnufson, village president, at the Colfax Village Board’s August 12 meeting.
Gunnufson, along with Lynn Niggemann, village administrator-clerk-treasurer, met with representatives of Bremer Bank to talk about business concerns.
Bremer Bank also has met with businesses to address their concerns, Gunnufson said.
Although some businesses in Colfax make cash deposits at Bremer Bank, the letter to bank customers from Bremer states people can still make cash deposits at Bremer locations in Menomonie and Eau Claire.
The representatives from Bremer Bank “are passionate about maintaining their customers and their commitment to Colfax,” Gunnufson said at the August 12 village board meeting.
The August 5 letter from Bremer states, “More of our customers are enjoying the convenience of mobile and online banking, without needing to visit a Bremer Bank location. Due to these changing customer preferences, we have decided to close the location at 301 Bremer Ave. in Colfax at the end of business on Friday, November 8, 2019.”
The letter goes on to say, “Increasingly, our customers appreciate our mobile and online banking options. Services such as depositing checks or transferring funds can be completed whenever you’d like, using your smartphone or computer.”
Over the past several years, in an effort to improve Internet access, Dunn County has completed mapping to determine where there is poor or virtually no Internet access.
A certain proportion of Dunn County, as it turns out, is not covered by any Internet service providers. In other areas of Dunn County, the Internet access is so poor it would be unreliable for online banking.
With certain cellular telephone service providers, some areas in Dunn County are “dead zones” for cell phone service, as well, which would also create an unreliable situation for banking by mobile application.
When Bremer’s media representative, Clarise Tushie-Lessard, vice-president of communications, was asked what Bremer suggested people should do who are in situations where there is no Internet access or poor Internet access or where there is spotty cellular service, she replied, “Everything in the letter is what we’re telling customers.”
Tushie-Lessard also offered to send a statement to the Colfax Messenger.
The statement reads as follows: “As Bremer Bank continues to grow, we are investing in new strategies and tools that better serve the changing priorities and preferences of our customers. More and more, our customers are enjoying the convenience of mobile and online banking, without needing to visit a physical Bremer location. Bremer is committed to meeting our customers where they are, which means strategically rethinking our physical and digital footprint and that’s exactly what we’re doing. In response to these changing customer preferences, we will close our current Colfax location on November 8. In addition to our mobile and online banking capabilities, we are happy to serve our Colfax customers at our nearby locations in Menomonie and Eau Claire.”
Bremer Bank in Colfax celebrated its 100th anniversary in June of 2015.
Bremer started out as People’s State Bank in downtown Colfax at the corner of East River Street and Main Street in the building that now houses Arvold Chiropractic.
In the July 2, 1900, Colfax Messenger, it was reported, “Colfax is to have a new bank known as the People’s State Bank of Colfax and is to be capitalized for $20,000. The incorporators are W.W. Mathews, C.N. Amble. W.E. Van Brunt, N.A. Lee and Edwin Anderson.”
People’s State Bank held its grand opening in downtown Colfax in February of 1916.
Copies of the postcards that were sent out in 1916 inviting village residents to the grand opening of the bank were part of the table decorations at Bremer’s celebration of the 100th anniversary in 2015.
The address on the copies of the 2016 postcards included the name of the person and then simply, “Village.”
In the early 1980s, Bremer Bank moved out of the downtown building to the location on Bremer Avenue with 32 employees.
Bremer Bank in Colfax now employs four people.