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As several regional and national banks reduce their branch footprints in Massachusetts and pending mergers likely to come with branch consolidations, the state’s community banks have been closing some branches as well.
The May monthly activity report from the Massachusetts Division of Banks shows 12 Massachusetts-based banks receiving or seeking permission to close branches in the region. While some banks have been establishing or relocating branches, the acceleration of digital banking and changing consumer preferences have been driving branch closings.
Supermarkets and high schools continue to lose branch locations. North Easton Savings Bank has closed its two supermarket branches in Shaw’s Supermarket in North Attleborough and Roche Bros. in North Easton. Both sites had been closed during the pandemic. Supermarket closings have been part of large bank strategies as well, with Citizens Bank and People’s United Bank both announcing plans to close Stop & Shop branches.
Some high school branches, often used for financial literacy and to build pipelines for future bank staff, have also closed during the pandemic. Haverhill Bank is seeking permission to close its locations in Haverhill High School and Whittier Vocational Technical High School. Last year, Institution for Savings in Newburyport closed five high school branches, and HarborOne Bank closed its Brockton High School branch.
Some banks are closing branches while also establishing new branches or relocating to new locations, including Middlesex Savings Bank, Salem Five and Bristol County Savings Bank. Holyoke-based PeoplesBank received permission in March to close one of its South Hadley branches and has requested permission to close branches in Longmeadow and Hadley, as well as in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The bank also received approval to open a new branch in West Hartford, Connecticut.
PeoplesBank President and CEO Tom Senecal told Banker & Tradesman last month that banks across the industry are evaluating how the purpose of their branches has shifted.
“When you look at customer behavior and see the enormous shift from reliance on brick-and-mortar to a reliance on digital, it provides us an opportunity to reevaluate our entire branch footprint and reevaluate the distance people will travel for certain services,” Senecal said. “We can see that customers are coming to our branches a lot less frequently, and they are coming for purposes other than a transaction.”
Rockland Trust in recent months closed its Seaport location in Boston and its Medford branch while continuing its branch expansion in the Worcester area. The Division of Banks last month issued a nonobjection to Rockland Trust’s plan to open a new branch at 633 Park Avenue in Worcester.
Because of overlapping footprints, more branch closures are expected from Rockland Trust’s proposed acquisition of East Boston Savings Bank, Eastern Bank’s acquisition of Century Bank.
Ahead of its planned merger with Silicon Valley Bank, Boston Private has closed some branches and is awaiting permission to shut down locations at 800 Boylston Street in Boston and in Lexington.
Other branch closings awaiting a ruling from the Division of Banks include:
- Athol Savings Bank in Baldwinville
- Bristol County Savings Bank in New Bedford
- Cambridge Trust Co. in Wellesley and Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- Middlesex Savings Bank in Acton
- Salem Five in Burlington
- South Shore Bank in Braintree
Regional and national banks that have been closing Massachusetts branches include Berkshire Bank, Citizens Bank, Bank of America, TD Bank, Santander Bank, People’s United Bank and Webster Bank.
