Banks open branches across state

New bank branches are popping up all over Idaho, with three banks opening locations outside the Treasure Valley.

Citizens Community Bank is opening a new branch in Chubbuck, scheduled to be complete in mid-2019.

“The location on Quinn Road had the best combination of the things we were looking for,” said Jeff Garvin, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “Some of the factors we considered included proximity to our current branches, ease of access, growth trends in the community, and availability of a suitable building site.”

The company is constructing an 8,500-square-foot building, designed by Advantage Architecture and built by Morgan Construction.

“It will be a full-service branch with deposit services, commercial lending services, consumer lending services, real estate lending services, drive-up and ATM,” Garvin said. “There will also be some additional space to support the bank’s continued growth.”

He characterized it as a multimillion-dollar project but declined to be more specific.

D. L. Evans Bank, headquartered in Burley, is building a permanent branch in Rigby to replace the temporary branch that’s been operating there for a year or so, according to John V. Evans III, executive vice president. The new 6,000-square-foot branch, designed by Erstad Architects and built by Construction Solutions Company, is intended to be completed in December for a January opening. He would not reveal the cost.

In addition, Evans said the company expects to build a permanent branch next year to replace an existing temporary facility in Rexburg. “We like rural Idaho communities,” he said.

Washington Trust Bank is planning a new branch in Lewiston. The company has purchased a lot at 16th Avenue and 21st Street that it is preparing for a future branch, said Katy Wagnon, public relations and communications manager for the company, based in Spokane.

“The property has been split into two sections,” she said. “An 11–foot-tall retaining wall has been constructed, and 12,000 cubic yards of dirt have been hauled in on the east side to make it more level with 21st street.”

The bank is in the final stages of design with no estimate on when the branch will be built, she said.

Trent Wright, president and CEO of the Idaho Bankers Association in Boise, attributed the development to growth statewide.

“In 1994, Idaho had 376 bank branches with $9.2 billion in deposits located throughout the state,” he said. “Today, Idahoans choose to entrust $25 billion in deposits in over 500 bank branch locations.”

During the past six months, 66 percent of millennials visited a bank branch, most of which involved walk-in and not just ATM services, he said.

“That’s only down slightly from baby boomers, who hold steady at 80 percent over the same time period.”

Nationally, a number of banks, such as KeyBank and Wells Fargo, are closing branches, typically to save money, sometimes after a merger or acquisition. The Wall Street Journal reported more than 1,700 branches shut down between June 2016 and June 2017. At the same time, banks such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are opening branches, with Chase planning to open 400 and Bank of America planning to open 500.

In Idaho, 77 branches have closed since 2010, while 31 branches have opened, according to the Idaho Department of Finance.

Increasingly, bank branches are appearing in supermarkets, office buildings, shopping centers, airports, convenience and retail stores, Wright said. “Banks have continued to expanded their locations to provide more personalized attention from bank staff, he said. “Also, new innovative branch designs and locations reflect a greater emphasis on customer service.”