Citizens Bank to close downtown branch in November

CITIZENS BANK will close the lobby-level branch within its downtown headquarters this November, according to a company spokesperson. / PBN FILE PHOTO/STEPHANIE EWENS

PROVIDENCE – Citizens Bank is closing the branch within its downtown headquarters this fall, according to spokesman Bennett Griesmer.

The closure is the latest in a series of brick-and-mortar branch losses by several major regional banks, including Citizens, which last year announced plans to close 40 branches within Stop & Shop locations across Rhode Island and Massachusetts. At that time, Citizens cited its transition to a more digital focus as the reason.

While the company continues to invest in and expand its online and mobile services, that was not the chief motivator behind the decision to close the downtown branch at 1 Citizens Plaza, Griesmer said. Instead, it was because of a recent renovation and “transformation” of the bank’s Kennedy Plaza branch, a half-mile away.

The bank filed a notice of intent to close the lobby-level branch with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in July, simultaneously signaling upcoming closures of more than a dozen other branches across the country, including several in Philadelphia. No other notices for closure of Rhode Island branches had been filed, according to the OCC documents.

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Citizens will continue to use the 13-story, triangular building as its downtown headquarters, and an ATM will remain on-site where the branch used to be, Griesmer said. All three branch employees are being encouraged to apply for other positions within the company.

The branch will close Nov. 16.

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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