Bank accounts in limbo, a mountain of paperwork to come, services suspended… Long-time clients of Laurentian Bank, shaped by Quebec figures such as Louis-Joseph Papineau and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, fear their possible sale.
“It worries me because I don’t know what’s going to happen to my money,” Josette Jacques, a retired professor from Montreal’s South Shore and a client of the financial institution since 1968, confided to the Journal.
Founded in 1846 by Ignace Bourget, the Banque d’Épargne de la Cité et du District de Montréal, which would later become the Laurentian Bank, was supported in its day by the famous Louis-Joseph Papineau and Georges-Étienne Cartier. Its history is closely linked to that of Quebec.
The financial institution has certainly captured the imagination, but in recent years it has struggled to meet the needs of its customers, says Josette Jacques.
“It hasn’t worked for a long time. As a customer, I am not at all satisfied. It used to be really good, but for a couple of years it hasn’t worked at all,” denounced the woman, who left her store on Wednesday morning.
Josette Jacques, a Laurentian Bank customer for more than 50 years, hopes the financial institution will improve its services. Photo Francis Halin
A stone’s throw from her, customers were pouring in and out of the building, whispering that concern was palpable inside since rumors of the sale to prospects outside of Quebec surfaced yesterday.
Remember that the institution has a monolingual English speaker, Rania Llewellyn, as its CEO, who is currently learning French. His controversial appointment had caused a stir. In May 2022, the bank had also recruited an English-speaking vice president from Toronto, Andrew Chornenky.
Less service?
For Alain Disfrucia, caregiver for beneficiaries and Laurentian Bank client since he was 15, it’s less the company’s ownership that’s a cause for concern than the quality of its services that could suffer.
Alain Disfrucia says he is particularly concerned about the financial institution’s service offering, which it believes has its cold. Photo Francis Halin
“What scares me a little bit concerns my mother and I. I would like to receive my pension. What happens with the address changes?” he asks.
At the Journal, he regrets that due to the limited number of service points, he already has to travel seven to eight kilometers to do his business on site.
“There have already been closures of access points, but when there aren’t any more,” he sighs.
According to Jean-Sébastien Racine, a Lanaudière resident who has been a customer for 25 years, Laurentian Bank has bet a little too much on the corporate side over time and ultimately let down individual customers like him.
“They released a cellular app too late. Their customer service is not very good,” he says.
“It’s not going in the right direction,” he concludes.
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