Santander Bank, which has been gradually shrinking its Connecticut brick-and-mortar presence over the years, is closing its branches in downtown Hartford and Manchester, the Boston-based bank confirmed Thursday morning.
The Santander branch at 115 Asylum St. in Hartford will close on April 27, and the Manchester branch at 525 West Middle Turnpike will close on April 20. The branches will be consolidated into existing locations in South Windsor and in Hartford’s South End, the bank said.
“Like many industries, our customers’ preferences have changed, with more customers choosing to bank with us online,” the company said in a statement. “Therefore, we are reimagining the customer and employee experience by simplifying our processes, refining our branch footprint, and increasing our investment in digital capabilities to align with the evolving needs of our customers.”
Santander, which has 483 branches nationwide, acquired Pennsylvania-based Sovereign Bank in 2009. After that, Sovereign Bank branches were rebranded with Santander’s name.
The two branch closures represent about 12% of its 17 branches in Connecticut. They’re among 13 branch closures in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey that Santander recently submitted to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Santander has been chipping away at the number of branches it has in Connecticut for years. In 2021, Santander closed four of its 21 banks in the state, or 19%.
Santander’s current branch count in the state is down from 32 locations a decade ago. As of June 30, 2022 the bank held $1.89 billion in Connecticut deposits.
Santander is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group.
