A Berkshire Bank storefront branch in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Berkshire Bank is expecting to close down more branches in 2024 as a part of its three-year restructuring plan geared on leaning towards improvement of its digital banking platforms.
Berkshire CEO Nitin Mhatre said during the bank’s latest quarterly earnings call that Berkshire closed four branches in the third quarter, and will continue to close more next year, but did not give specifics on how many the bank plans to close and the locations that might shutter.
He said the bank is focusing on heightened focus on rationalizing expenses and constantly monitoring foot traffic in its branch locations and opportunities for consolidation while still retaining clients and employees.
Data from the Massachusetts Division of Banks show that Berkshire closed four branches, which include 322 Maple St. in Marlborough, 30 East Otis Road in Otis; 734 Williams St. in Pittsfield and 303 Turnpike Road in Westborough. Berkshire also sold off the Pittsfield property during the quarter.
“This quarter marks the start of year three of our three-year BEST program. We continue to rationalize our real estate footprint, including the consolidation of four branches and sale of one office building this past quarter. In continuation of our digitization journey, we launched our new mobile banking app and online banking platform towards the end of the third quarter,” Mhatre said.
Mhatre added that the bank is shifting its focus from stationary bank branches where clients come to the bank to Berkshire’s bankers going to where the clients are.
“We are constantly looking at customer foot traffic and servicing patterns and where you could actually serve clients better. We have channels like My Banker that are unique to us, whereby we go to the client as opposed to clients having to come to the branch…We do believe based on what we see that there is an opportunity for further consolidation. We just can’t spell out a specific number at this point,” the bank CEO said.
Berkshire’s three-year restructuring closed down 13 branches so far, including five branches last year, one in 2021, and three in 2020. To date, Berkshire has 96 branches in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The bank saw $2.6 million in restructuring charges in the third quarter due to expenses related to branch consolidations. Year-on-year, Berkshire’s expenses were up 5 percent or $3.7 million primarily due to higher compensation and technology costs as the bank push for its mobile and online banking platforms. Berkshire said it also expects for technology expenses to stabilize in the next few quarters.
