By paNOW

St. Louis struggling without ATM

Nov 23, 2016 | 10:00 AM

The Village of St. Louis, Sask. is struggling to find cash after the only ATM in town was dragged out of the local Affinity Credit Union branch and plundered by thieves in August.

The Credit Union location, which is closed Tuesday and Thursday each week, confirmed they have no plans to replace the ATM, making it more difficult for residents to find cash.

Edward Lussier, who co-owns a cash-only grocery business in St. Louis along with his wife, said the absence of an ATM may be costing them business.

Lussier said his customers often want to pay with debit or credit cards, and he can no longer send them down the street to the Credit Union branch to grab some cash. By his estimate, Lussier is losing two or three customers every week simply because they have no cash.

According to Lussier the majority of his customers are local seniors who may not be able to drive, which makes it very difficult to keep cash on hand.

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“They have to try to get to the bank, and the bank has been reduced to three days a week,” he said. “That presents a challenge as well.”

Lussier said he has looked into installing an ATM, but the associated expenses and fees would be too high to make the purchase viable.

“It’s quite an overhead expense for a small business,” Lussier said. “Purchasing the machine and setting it all up and everything, it’s a few thousand dollars, so it’s something that we really have to think about.

It’s just typical small rural town struggling,” he said.

St. Louis Chief Administrative Officer Robin Boyer said council members received feedback from concerned residents.

“The village had asked Affinity Credit Union to reconsider its decision, but at this time it is strictly a business decision.” Boyer said in a written statement to paNOW.

Branch Manager Joel Biodeau declined to comment directly, but said Affinity is not planning to replace the St. Louis ATM, and written notice was posted at the location to keep members informed.

Residents said the nearest machines are in Wakaw or Prince Albert. Both locations are within a 30-minute drive from St. Louis.

St. Louis village Coun. Pauline Doucet said the absence of an ATM is costing the community in lost business.

“Our skating rink right now is rented out to hockey teams from Cudworth and Prince Albert,” she said, noting there is no debit or credit machine available at the rink.

“There’s a high chance sales are not as high as they could be,” she said.

Doucet said signs advertising the ATM are still displayed at the Credit Union location despite the decision against replacing the stolen machine.

“I’m sure there must have been some sort of insurance on the machine,” she said. “They’re kind of punishing the residents of St. Louis who did use it by not replacing it.”

Affinity Credit Union Regional Manager Corey Tomporowski told paNOW the bank reviewed their services in St. Louis before deciding against replacing the ATM.

The St. Louis ATM’s usage was “relatively low and declining” even before the theft, Tomporowski said. He called the increasing popularity of electronic payments “a trend we can’t ignore.”

“The ways that people are using technology these days to pay is changing our business fundamentally,” he said.

Tomporowski said rural ATMs are often attractive to thieves, as exemplified by the August theft.

“These types of ATMs are becoming a real high-priority target for criminals,” he said, “and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep them secure.”

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

@TMacPhersonNews

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 3:34 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 24 to include additional information obtained from interviews with Affinity Credit Union Regional Manager Corey Tomporowski and St. Louis village councillor Pauline Doucet.