Connecticut-based Webster Bank, which operates branches in Boston, is offering special rates on new home improvement loans and a temporary fee waiver for use of non-Webster ATMs for customers in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts affected by Tropical Storm Irene.

"For more than 75 years, we have been helping our customers and communities meet their financial needs – especially during life’s setbacks," Webster Chairman and CEO James C. Smith said in a statement. "As a bank founded by my father during the Great Depression, ‘being there’ is in our DNA. Our neighbors who have been impacted by Irene can count on us to assist with special terms on financial products and services, delivered by understanding Webster bankers whose families have also been affected by the storm."

Through Sept. 30, Webster said it will offer an unsecured personal home improvement loan at a rate 1.5 percentage points below the standard rate, for loans between $1,000 and $15,000. The bank will also waive foreign ATM fees incurred from Aug. 27 through Aug. 30, but noted that the owner of the other ATM may still charge fees.