By Dena Wood
The Times
Banner Bank Manager Speaks at Commercial Club
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Dena Wood
Banner Bank Dayton Branch Manager Bev Rising (standing) addressed the Waitsburg Commercial Club about bank changes during last week's meeting at The Q.
WAITSBURG – Bev Rising addressed the Waitsburg Commercial Club last week to discuss Banner Bank and the conversion of Waitsburg's AmericanWest Bank to Banner Bank. Bev is the Dayton Banner Bank branch manager and was a teller for 23 years.
Rising said that Banner Bank merged with AmericanWest Bank on Oct. 2 but the final conversion will not take place until February of next year. She said that federal regulations prevented Banner from taking over over the Dayton AmericanWest Branch because Banner would hold too large a market share in the area. That branch has now been taken over by Home Street.
Rising said that while the conversion is "challenging" the good news is that Banner Bank bought all the AmericanWest account and routing numbers so they will stay the same. Customers will be able to continue using their current checks until they run out.
The Waitsburg branch plans to keep its current hours, but may be open more depending on how busy they are.
"We've been extremely busy so far. It's almost been nonstop. The tellers say they have been opening five or six new accounts a day versus the two or three a month they did before," Rising said.
She said the bank is doing its best to relocate staff and if they can't be relocated they will receive a severance package.
Rising said Banner Bank is very involved in its communities with sponsorships and donations and doesn't plan on changing that. She said the Waitsburg Resource Center will remain in its current location in the bank building.
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