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Closure Could Leave Mason Square Without A Full-Service Bank

The TD Bank building in downtown Springfield.
Adam Frenier
/
NEPR
The TD Bank building in downtown Springfield.

A Massachusetts state representative said the closure of the only bank in Springfield's Mason Square neighborhood is unfair to its residents.

TD Bank will close the branch at the end of January. In a statement, the company directs customers to nearby ATM machines, and notes there are other branches in Springfield — which are about two miles away.

State Rep. Bud Williams said that's too far.

"Remember now, a lot of folks are very poor. That neighborhood is one of the poorest in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," Williams said. "A lot of folks don't have transportation. They walk, it's foot traffic."

Williams pointed to a 2017 FDIC study that said households with little-to-no access to banks struggle saving money, or getting credit.

He said he's going to see if the closure affects TD Bank's compliance with the federal Community Reinvestment Act. It encourages financial institutions to meet the needs of all customers, including in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. 

TD Bank said in a statement the planned closure was "based on business factors such as customer traffic and the volume of transactions."

"As part of normal business practices, we regularly evaluate existing TD Bank stores and new locations, which can mean consolidating some facilities, as we are doing in Springfield," the statement continued. "We did not reach this decision lightly."

Adam joined NEPM as a freelance reporter and fill-in operations assistant during the summer of 2011. For more than 15 years, Adam has had a number stops throughout his broadcast career, including as a news reporter and anchor, sports host and play-by-play announcer as well as a producer and technician.
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