Cartwright about to lose its one and only bank branch

Cartwright could soon become a cashless community and not by choice.

The Eagle River Credit Union, which provides the only banking service in the coastal Labrador community, is closing its branch.

The company says the branch has been losing money since it opened 25 years ago. Foot traffic through the building is down, and for the last year it has been operating with one employee.It has also reduced its hours to 2.5 days per week.

It's the only banking service in Cartwright, and Mayor Dwight Lethbridge calls it essential.

"Twenty-fiveyears ago, the money was not what mattered to the credit union," said Lethbridge, who describedthe closure asa huge blow to the community.

"It was providing service to the people. That's why it was formed."

'Not walking away'

But chief executive officer Alvina O'Brien said the Eagle River Credit Union hashad trouble hiring people to work at the branch. The company plans to continue offering online banking, and O'Brien said that could include providing public computers in the town, and training for seniors who want to learn.

"We are not walking away from the town of Cartwright," she said. "We're saying that a physical location is not possible at this point."

But Lethbridge says that will not help everyone who needs it.

"Our broadband infrastructure is in such a deplorable state that new internet customers can't even get online," he said.

"I mean, there are cases of seniors here that do not have internet in their homes,and they're not going to be able to get it.Right now, we're capped," he said.

"Nobody can get a new account, and there are people [even]if they have a willingness to learn at 60, 70, 80, 90 years of age are still not going to be able to access that infrastructure."

Meanwhile, the town itself does its business through the credit union, including cash transactions, and the school operates a small canteen on a cash-only basis.

O'Brien said it's not clear what will happen to those who require cash transactions.

"I don't have the answers for how they're going to be able to do all their cash transactions, but I do believe and I'm very confident we can find solutions to help them," she said.