Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

The State puts this upcoming closing down to cost cutting:

Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest bank in the U.S., has been on a cost-cutting spree after reporting billions of dollars in losses this year for the first time since 2008, The Charlotte Observer reported. Over the summer, the bank said it would close 65 branch locations across the country, on its way to eventually downsizing to 4,000 locations from its current 5,400, according to The Observer.

I'm sure large parts of that are due to changes in the banking industry, but I think Wells Fargo is still dealing with self-inflicted wounds from the 2016 scandal as well.

According to The State there are no definite plans for the property, but, of course, there is once again talk of a parking garage.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

Well, this is a bit disappointing. This credit union with ATM in the Big Lots plaza has been one of my go-to places in this area for no-fee Co-Op ATM withdrawals. It is one of the places I mentally marked as "safe", as it does not unexpectedly give $50 bills (which nobody wants, why does anyone do that!).

The new location seems quite a ways from here, and I don't see how it will be convenient for the members who use this branch.

This old Synovus branch at the corner of Sumter & Pendleton Streets really never made an impression on me. I'm sure I couldn't have told you it was there had you asked, and the building dates to 1972, so I would have walked by there many times while I was on campus.

My phonebooks aren't really helping me to say when it closed, but obviously long enough ago that it's already looking a bit dingy, and the lot has already been rented out for parking.

You can see it with the NBSC branding still up in this LoopNet listing.

UPDATE 25 August 2020: I forgot to put a date on the post title. Since the NBSC ==> Synovus reflagging happened in 2018, I'm going with that.

(Hat tip to commenter Dan R.)

Here's another closed bank branch, this one on Sunset Boulevard near Target. I like the view out of the back of the lot. Even though the area has built up considerably, there are still large undeveloped areas in Lexington County.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)

The de-branching of American banks continues with this Wells Fargo location at the southeast corner of Forest Drive and Beltline Boulevard being the latest example to feature here.

I had actually been inside this bank, as my sister and I took care of some shared business there. It was what you would expect, and a perfectably acceptable experience. The place is also actually a little easier to get in and out of than you would think, as there is a back exit to a road paralleling Forest drive behind the mirror buildings that brings you back out at a more convenient location.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 1 May 2019: Updated tags.

UPDATE 15 August 2019 -- As mentioned in the comments, this building has now been razed:

I'm not sure exactly what is going on at this BB&T next to Panera Bread on Garners Ferry Road, but it seems to be some sort of renovation.

What really needs renovation is the parking lot by the old Postal Depot, which has one of Columbia's more impressive potholes (which is saying something).

Hmm. When I saw the signs being changed out at this NBSC driving by Trenholm Plaza today, I assumed that the bank had been bought out recently and I just had not heard of it (I don't bank there, so in general, I wouldn't).

As it actually turns out, according to Wikipedia, NBSC has always been a local nameplate for Synovus (nee: Columbus Bank and Trust Company), which operated under different names in different states and

In early 2010, Synovus consolidated their thirty separate state charters into one Georgia state banking charter and is transitioning to operate as a more centralized single bank.

I guess they are doing South Carolina now.

UPDATE 21 June 2018 -- Check the comments for some details, but apparently the Wikipedia info about is, at best, imcomplete. NBSC was apparently originally a local bank and not part of Synovus until (historically speaking) recently.

These are some not very good drive-by pictures of this branch at the corner of The Charleston Highway and Old Dunbar Road. There is a much better one in the real estate listing here.

I had it in my mind that the building had been vacant for longer, but it is listed in the February 2017 phonebook, so most likely it closed during 2017 (though as I said a few posts ago, the accuracy of phonebook information is dropping).

At any rate, the process of banks de-branching (pruning?) continues.

This one's a puzzler. I've been a Carolina Collegiate FCU member for decades, since my father opened an account for me while he was a USC professor, and I have no complaints -- they're a good instution to do business with. What I don't understand is how they seem to have been bitten by the same bug that got into the RCPL a few years ago: The sudden urge to change a historic and evocative name to something less so.

If you're in Columbia, and especially if you have some connection to USC, the name Carolina Collegiate invokes warm fuzzies. Caro just sounds like syrup..

It appears someone made a big withdrawal.

Like the Automated Post Office before it, this vanished ATM sat in the parking lot at the Shoppes At Woodhill (The former Woodhill Mall).

I noticed one day last month when I was having lunch on the patio at Jimmy John's that it was gone, and I cannot now recall what bank it was affiliated with..