Bye-bye, banks

Bank of America closes branches across U.S., including 2 in San Antonio

Banks are closing brick-and-mortar locations as online banking takes over.

Getty Images

San Antonians who use Bank of America will soon have two fewer locations to handle financial matters in person.

The financial centers at Ingram Park (6401 N.W. Loop 410) and Marbach Road (1515 S.W. Loop 410) are closing December 6. Other San Antonio locations remain open for now; it's easy to check their status at bankofamerica.com. Closing locations are marked with a blue triangle.

Text accompanying the alert gives instructions to safe deposit box holders: "To make an appointment to access your safe deposit box during regular business hours, email us your full name, address and phone number at: safebox@bofa.com."

These alerts pop up a few months in advance; one at Dallas's Snider Plaza (6901 Hillcrest Ave.) warns now that it'll close on March 4, 2025. Other impending closures around Texas are the Lamar location in Fort Worth (2000 E Lamar Blvd. Ste. 100) on December 10, 2024, and the West 8 location in Houston (10101 Westheimer Rd.) on April 29, 2025.

Banks have to report financial center closings to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) 90 days in advance. The San Antonio closures were announced in a bulletin for the week of July 21, 2024.

According to some news sources that have been following recent closings, this is a fat-trimming process as more people are doing their banking online.

According to trade publication American Banker, Bank of America led the pack in Q3 of 2024, with 41 locations closed. However, over the last 12 months, its 91 closures were outpaced by U.S. Bank with 98, and Wells Fargo with 181.

finance money closings

Fun times in the city

San Antonio scores a spot on list of 2024's most fun cities

Photo by Shelly Collins on Unsplash

San Antonio is a fun place to visit.

San Antonio is showing off its fun-loving side in WalletHub's new ranking of the top 25 most fun cities in America in 2024.

The annual report ranked the Alamo City No. 25 for the second consecutive year.

WalletHub's experts compared 182 U.S. cities across 65 metrics to determine the level of "fun" for each city. The metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

According to the study's findings, San Antonio performed best in the overall cost category, earning No. 13 out of all 182 cities, which demonstrates just how affordable the city is in comparison to the rest of the country. As a note, this category mostly compares flat costs rather than affordability based on local cost of living.

San Antonio was 27th nationally in the category for nightlife and parties, and ranked No. 32 in the "entertainment and recreation" category. That may be especially alluring for anyone who wants to explore the city's vast entertainment opportunities, family-friendly recreational activities, dining destinations, and more.

Potential San Antonians should do their research before deciding to move here, rather than basing their decision on short trips and vacations alone.

"The top cities offer affordable options for year-round fun for their residents, which is good for residents’ wallets and their mental health," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo in the report.

Austin (No. 6) and Houston (No. 9) were the only Texas cities to earn a spot in the top 10 most fun U.S. cities list. Austin moved up one spot from last year, while Houston made a 10-place jump.

Other fun-filled Texas cities that made it in the top 100 are Dallas (No. 31), El Paso (No. 53), Fort Worth (No. 55), Plano (No. 78), Arlington (No. 79), and Corpus Christi (No. 99).

The top 10 most fun U.S. cities are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Austin, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 9 – Houston, Texas
No. 10 – New York City, New York

Cities were evaluated based on the number of attractions per capita, nightlife activities per capita, the average prices for eating at a restaurant or buying a movie ticket, and more. Data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Trust for Public Land, and the Council for Community and Economic Research, among others.

dance clubs fun cities houston houston texans nightlife parties recreation wallethub