By waiting longer than expected to receive regulatory approval for its recent bank acquisition, Brookline Bancorp now has an additional year before the Durbin Amendment takes effect.

Brookline Bancorp, the parent company of Brookline Bank and Bank Rhode Island, completed its acquisition of New York-based PCSB Bancorp on Jan. 1 after receiving approval from the Federal Reserve on Dec. 15. The holding company, which had originally targeted the fourth quarter to close the transaction, operates the Yorktown Heights, New York-based PCSB Bank as its third subsidiary bank.

With total assets of $9.2 billion at the end of 2022 – an increase of $526.8 million since Sept. 30 – Brookline Bancorp exceeded the $10 billion threshold for the Durbin Amendment when it acquired the $1.9 billion-asset PCSB Bank. The Durbin Amendment results in lower interchange fees on debit card transactions as part of the Dodd Frank Act.

But since the regulation takes effect in the second half of the year after a bank exceeds $10 billion in assets, Brookline will not see an impact until July 2024.

Carl Carlson, Brookline Bancorp’s co-president and chief financial officer, said in response to an analyst’s question during the bank’s fourth quarter earnings call on Jan. 26 that the delay would give the company a little less than $1 million in additional revenue over 12 months.

“It was not intended that way, but it worked out nicely,” Carlson said.

Carlson added that the delay in closing the deal did add to merger expenses in other areas.

Brookline Bancorp had $641,000 in merger expenses during the fourth quarter, down from $1.07 million in the third quarter. Paul Perrault, Brookline Bancorp’s CEO, said the PCSB system conversion is planned for mid-February.

In response to an analyst’s question, Perrault said the company had seen no negative surprises since acquiring PCSB Bank.

“I’ve never seen such an enthusiastic group of acquired people,” Perrault said. “So things are proceeding apace, and things are going very well.”

For the fourth quarter, Brookline Bancorp had net income of $29.7 million, or $0.39 per basic and diluted share, compared to $30.1 million, or $0.39 per basic and diluted share, in the third quarter of 2022 and $28.5 million, or $0.37 per basic and diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Brookline Bancorp’s full-year net income was $109.7 million, or $1.42 per basic and diluted share, compared to $115.4 million, or $1.48 per basic and diluted share, in 2021.

Total deposits at the end of the fourth quarter were $6.5 billion, down from $6.7 billion in the third quarter and $7 billion at the end of 2021.

Total loans and leases were $7.6 billion, up $223.1 million from Sept. 30, 2022, and $489.9 million since Dec. 31, 2021.

Perrault said the second half of the year saw an accelerated pace of loans, including some large deals. The loan pipeline remains strong, he said, adding that the pace of loan growth could normalize in 2023.

“It would not surprise me, as we roll into the year, we get back into a more normal, for us, pace where growth might be 6-7 percent pace, if you will, by the end of the year,” Perrault said. “But we’ll try to beat that.”