Huntington trimming branch offices after review

Huntington Bancshares is closing 38 branch offices throughout its Midwest market area, including one in central Ohio.

The bank’s office in Canal Winchester, 3680 Gender Rd., is among the closings, which will take place Sept. 30.

The closings aren’t part of Huntington’s $3.4 billion acquisition last year of Akronbased FirstMerit. Huntington closed 103 Huntington and FirstMerit offices as part of that deal early this year.

Instead, the closings are part of a review by the bank of its network of offices across the eight states where it operates, said Matt Samson, a bank spokesman.

“Huntington regularly reviews and fine-tunes our distribution network, and makes adjustments and improvements to provide our customers with great service and convenience,” Samson said Monday. “Branches are reviewed for customer traffic patterns, transaction trends and proximity to nearby Huntington branch locations.”

Banks have been shedding offices in recent years as consumers do more banking online and with their cellphone.

Huntington had bucked that trend until recently. Just in 2015, the bank added 48 offices, more than any other in the country, according to SNL Financial.

Huntington employees affected by the closings will be considered for other jobs within Huntington, Samson said.

In about half of the closings, there is another office nearby, he said.

The 38 offices represent about 4 percent of the bank’s network of nearly 1,000 offices in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin and Kentucky.