Branch of bank to close despite campaign to keep it open

The Raiffeisenbank has announced that its branch in Oberägeri is to close, despite a petition signed by 618 people to keep it open.

A statement from the bank said it would stick to its strategy and close this branch at number 29 Hauptstrasse, probably at the beginning of 2020.

As previously reported, a number of clients set up an action group in an attempt to keep it open, including Klaus Bilang, who was instrumental in setting-up the petition. He pointed out there was a strong feeling locally that this branch should remain open, not least because it dated back to 1937, and, along with the branch in Menzingen-Neuheim, was the oldest in the canton and that the service provided at the counter was very much appreciated.

At the time the petition was handed in, Erik Müller, the chairman of the board of management and Michael Iten the chairman of the board, said they would review the situation and report back.

They discovered, for example, that, of the 618 signatures, just 211 customers of the bank were locals, i.e.109 from Oberägeri itself, 57 from Morgarten and 45 from Alosen; the remaining 407 were from people who did not actually live in the municipality. “This all goes to show what we previously thought, namely that bank was little used by locals. And even if customers do come in, it is mainly only to get cash or pay bills,” adding how 90 per cent of customers do this via the ATM anyway. “Only the remaining 10 per cent will be inconvenienced by having to go another branch,” said a statement from the bank.

As previously reported, an ATM would remain there, though it was not yet sure where, and that, if necessary, customers could be provided with advice in their own homes and those with mobility problems who needed to go to the branch in Unterägeri would be chauffeured there free of charge by Tixi-taxi.

It is only natural that Bilang and co-signees were disappointed with the bank’s decision. He said it did not matter whether those who had signed it actually lived in Oberägeri or Unterägeri. The petition was a means of transmitting the feelings of the local people to the management responsible and he felt it was arrogant of the bank to dismiss the petition in this way, and questioned aspects of the statement put out by the bank. “I do not feel customers have been taken seriously,” he concluded, adding he had acted out of the interests of the community.