U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and three other senators have sent a letter to M&T Bank asking it to compensate customers who were inconvenienced by the transition of People’s United Bank accounts to M&T accounts starting Labor Day weekend.
In addition, Blumenthal asked the Federal Reserve and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to investigate whether M&T has met its commitment to keep 1,000 employees in Bridgeport.
M&T acquired the Bridgeport-based bank for $7.6 billion in April.
Since the conversion earlier this month, new M&T customers have complained about being unable to access their accounts, long wait times and delays in payment processing, and a lack of customer support.
Wait times on M&T’s customer service line were averaging about two hours days after the conversion, according to reports.
“It is imperative that M&T act swiftly to comply with all laws, regulations and regulatory expectations relied on during the acquisition approval process and that all customers be fairly compensated if they were negatively impacted as a result of M&T’s mishandling of the merger with People’s United Bank,” the senators’ letter to M&T Bank CEO René F. Jones.
Also, they asked M&T Bank to issue an apology.
Joining Blumenthal in signing the letter were Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-VT; Bernie Sanders, I-VT; Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts and Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts.
In a statement, M&T Bank said: “We appreciate the Senators’ close attention to this matter and that they share our steadfast commitment to doing right by our customers. We will promptly respond to the Senators’ letter. Our team, including our leadership and thousands of M&T Bank employees, have been working diligently to resolve any remaining customer issues as a result of the conversion. Though the vast majority of customers were smoothly integrated into our systems, we apologize to those whose expectations were not met. We have already begun the process of compensating those customers who incurred fees and assisting those who were negatively impacted as a result of our conversion. We recognize that some customers may have had interruptions in their ability to view and transact with their accounts digitally or online. Nearly all of those issues have been resolved. All of our systems have been up and running, our call center and our branches are operating at normal levels and our teams are working hard to address any outstanding customer issues.”
M&T has more than 1,000 branches and 2,200 ATMs in 12 states from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C.
