Mulgrave losing its only bank

The credit union in Mulgrave will close its doors Friday afternoon, with all banking moving across the Canso Causeway to the branch in Port Hawkesbury.

The three workers at the Mulgrave credit union will be transferred to Port Hawkesbury.

Mulgrave Mayor Lorne MacDonald said the problem for many of the 600 members will be getting there.

"The big thing is no transportation system, no taxis now, no bus service. So I think this is the big issue, is to get people to get to Port Hawkesbury and do their banking," he said.

The president and CEO of East Coast Credit Union Ken Shea said the Mulgrave branch has been struggling to make a profit since it opened in 1998.

Now that the credit union in Mulgrave is closing, Shea is encouraging direct deposit and online banking for those who don't drive.

Since the ATM is going too, Shea advises people to get cash back at the grocery store, at least for now.

He's working on getting a new ATM for Mulgrave.

"I guess what we are trying to do is we continue to look at ways that we can help the community. It has been raised to our attention that this is an area of concern, so we are working with one of our partner organizations to see if there is a possibility but I don't have any firm news on that yet. But we are at least investigating it to see if we can work something out," said Shea. 

To show its displeasure with the credit union closing, the town had considered moving its business to another bank, but decided that was too much trouble.

Although, MacDonald said if economic activity picks up in Mulgrave, the town will use its business as leverage to convince a bank to move to their little town.