Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)  FirstBank is known for some clever advertising. The Lakewood-based FirstBank is closing 15 branch locations, the majority of them inside King Soopers stores along the Front Range. The reason has been slow commerce in the stores that has left tellers idle waiting for someone, anyone to come by. The closures will be in a dozen King Soopers stores. The other three are stand-alone operations, one each in Avon, Vail and Colorado Springs. Bank officials say that customers are relying more on electronic banking, ATMs and other forms of impersonal transactions. There's not a high demand for actual human contact. "What's driving it is a decline in traffic, nothing to do with the bank's financial stability," FirstBank Vice President Jim Reuter said. "We just don't need the density we have today considering the change in customer behavior in online banking." The closures will begin next month and coincide with FirstBank plans to open other three other branches in areas that need them, including the first in Glenwood Springs and one in Chandler, Arizona. FirstBank ATM cash machines will not be affected by the closures. © 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM. - - - Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013 General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him. Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance. |
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