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Rockland Trust to shut 16 current East Boston Savings Bank branches
By adamg on Tue, 06/15/2021 - 10:57pm
In a public notice about its impending merger with the parent company of the East Boston Savings Bank, Rockland Trust says it will close current East Boston branches in Allston, Brighton (two branches), Chinatown, Dorchester, Mission Hill, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Brookline and Cambridge (two branches), among others.
In West Roxbury, the closure will be the second bank branch to shut in recent years due to Rockland Trust expansion; earlier, the Peoples Federal Savings Bank branch on Centre Street, kitty corner from the larger Rockland Trust branch, was shut. The East Boston branch is in a refitted former Friendly's that was also briefly home to a Greek restaurant.
Rockland Trust says it will also close its own branch at 725 Centre St. in Jamaica Plain, near where an Indian restaurant was turned into a Chase branch. There is an East Boston branch at 515 Centre St., near the Curley School. The Rockland Trust branch was notable for an ATM that dispensed bills as small as $1.
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 Complete public announcement | 623.59 KB |
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Comments
Wow, what an awful thing to
Wow, what an awful thing to do your employees & customers after only claiming months ago that the merger was to increase their presence in greater Boston. It's baffling to me why Rockland would purchase, sorry "merge" with EBSB only to shutter so many of its locations! So many people I know banked at EBSB because it was the opposite of BoA...I guess they'll be looking to move their accounts now.
This was from the PR when they announced the merger in April:
“East Boston Savings Bank has been committed to building meaningful connections with their customers since 1848 and we are excited to work alongside them to deepen those relationships with expanded products, services, and technology,” said Rockland President and CEO Christopher Oddleifson. “At the same time, we look forward to increasing our presence in and around the city and reinforcing our position as the Boston area’s premier community-focused commercial bank.”
So screw the neighborhoods.
So screw the neighborhoods. We want that Downtown commercial money now.
People get angry when
People get angry when neighborhoods have too many bank branches, pushing up rents and displacing other businesses. So why are these closings a bad thing?
Not awful, not surprising,
Not awful, not surprising, not anti-neighborhood.
It's eliminating what is now double coverage in small areas.
Some interesting choices
Some interesting choices
- closing RT (former People's) on Centre St JP (in a block of buildings with a shared public parking lot) makes sense since they now control an EBSB building only a few blocks away on its own lot.
- closing RT (former People's, former Brookline Coop) on Washington St, Brookline Village, is a little more puzzling. I'm really not familiar with what other locations EBSB has in that area though, so ....
- closing EBSB Chinatown (95 Kneeland). That's a little surprising - not sure what Rockland has near there to cover.
- closing EBSB at 960 Morrissey. That makes sense. EBSB already had lots of coverage near there - Gallivan/Adams, Codman Square, Andrew Square - and now tied in with RT in Wollaston/North Quincy. Plus - that little strip mall has a terrible parking lot.
They have a branch in DTX
On Franklin Street. It's maybe 5 or 6 blocks away; perhaps they think that's close enough. Their coverage in the urban core is very limited; perhaps that's by design.
Not awful, not surprising,
Not awful, not surprising, not anti-neighborhood.
It's eliminating what is now double coverage in small areas.
Is that list anywhere else?
That pdf link isn't working for me. Anywhere else we can see the full list?
Sorry about that
I've attached a copy to the bottom of the original post.
Unfortunate turn of events
This is an unfortunate turn of events. Quite a few people in Roslindale started with that branch when it was Meetinghouse Bank and stayed when Meetinghouse was acquired by East Boston Savings.
The bank was engaged in community affairs and donated to a number of community activities.
It was also a convenient walk-in location in Roslindale Sq. for local business and for residents with personal accounts.
Based on my discussions with EBSB people in the know, the merger is supposed to be completed by sometime in November.
Don't blame Rockland Trust
People often blame the acquiring bank without recognizing that it was the management of EBSB that sold out (and most likely made huge profits in the deal). Branch closings, layoffs, and consolidations are are known (to management) up front, probably included in the SEC filings as part of the cost reduction strategy.
Good
We have too many banks as it is. I'd like to see almost anything else there instead.
Magoo sez
Magoo is considering opening the Bank of Magoo. All those in favor say Magoo. Magoo
Please
If it gives you less free time to post here I say hell yes
You didn’t say magoo
So say it.
It's. Not. That. Type. Of.
It's. Not. That. Type. Of. Bank.
Not hard to believe
I don’t know why we need all these bank branches anyway. It’s not like they’re competing to give us the highest interest rates on savings accounts. I haven’t been to a bank branch more than once a year since I went to an online bank in 2014. I don’t think I’ve paid a single fee since then either.
Notary services
I need documents notarized on a regular basis. That's pretty much the only reason I go into my bank branch (other than to use the coin-sorting machine about once a year), but it is a convenience.
Post Office?
That's how I used to do it.
Complete reversal
No love for Allston/Brighton/Brookline. EBSB had opened a bunch of branches in the area over the last few years, and RT seems to be closing all of them, plus an RT branch in Brookline Village. One of the branches in Brighton only opened a few months ago.