In Centre County, Pennsylvania, we heard that the transportation challenge is particularly acute for the Amish--10 miles is a long way to travel by horse and buggy. The loss of a bank branch also has a ripple effect on a community as a whole.
In the village of Brushton, New York, which lost its only bank branch in 2014, small business owners commented that when residents must leave the village to access banking services, they are more likely to shop, eat, and pay for services in other towns, which creates additional hardship for the small businesses of Brushton.