BANKING ON FEWER BRANCHESThe total number of bank branches in metropolitan Chattanooga declined by 7.3 percent from 2009 to 2013 and will decline even more this year as consumers and banks shift more of their bank transactions from traditional brick-and-mortar offices to mobile and electronic devices.Year: Number of branches• 2009: 179• 2010: 178• 2011: 175• 2012: 173• 2013: 166Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.SHUTTERING BRICK AND MORTARNorthwest Georgia Bank closing three branches Nov. 29• Fort Oglethorpe Bank branch, 898 Battlefield Pkwy.• East Ridge Bank branch, 1962 Mack Smith Road• LaFayette Bank branch, 2625 N. Highway 27 inside of Wal-MartFSG Bank, closed in April and May• Ringgold, Ga., branch, 35 Popular Springs Road• Harrison, 4535 Highway 58First Tennessee Bank, closing Dec. 10• Brainerd branch, 3602 Brainerd RoadSunTrust Bank, closed in April• St. Elmo branch, 3734 St. Elmo Ave.
Jimmy Walls has relied on the same bank office in Brainerd to deposit his checks for nearly a half century.
The First Tennessee Bank office has changed owners and staff through the years. But Walls said the branch on Brainerd Road near Germantown has remained the most convenient for him to bank with throughout his life.
“I started coming here because it was the closest to where I live. You get used to coming here and knowing the people,” the 75-year-old retiree said last week during his latest visit to the Brainerd office. “But I guess I can go to the Eastgate office (of First Tennessee) when this branch closes. I’m not changing my bank at this point in my life.”
On Dec. 11, First Tennessee Bank will close the bank branch that was first built on Brainerd Road in 1946.