Fulton Bank closing two Lehigh Valley branches
Fulton Bank, the Lancaster financial institution that has a significant presence in the Lehigh Valley, is closing two area branches as part of a larger consolidation.
The bank is planning to close its branches at 3301 Easton Ave. in Bethlehem Township and at 1323 Grape St. in Whitehall Township, two of 21 locations that will close across Pennsylvania, Maryland and NewJersey by Jan. 8. Also closing are two locations in Berks County: at 2747 Century Blvd. in Wyomissing, and at 2000 Cambridge Ave. in Reading.
The affected locations will have operations folded into nearby branches, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Sept. 29 — the day Fulton Bank’s board of directors approved the plan.
Steve Trapnell, Fulton Bank’s vice president and senior communications consultant, said the closing locations have another branch within about three miles.
“While it’s never easy to close one of our financial centers, it’s sometimes necessary after we evaluate factors including how many customers use the center and how often, as well as whether there are other Fulton
Bank financial centers nearby,” he said in an emailed statement. “We are making these changes to align our services with trends in how customers conduct their banking, including growth in online and mobile banking that is reducing transactions conducted in financial centers across our industry.”
Trapnell said such consolidations allow the bank to operate efficiently and invest in new financial services. Fulton Financial Corp., the bank’s publicly traded holding company, expects to reduce annual operating expenses by about $7 million with the closures, starting in the first quarter, according to the SEC filing.
Property records show Fulton Bank owns the Bethlehem Township branch, while Whitehall Mall owner Washington Prime Group is the landlord of the closing bank location in Whitehall. Greg Fleser, regional vice president of property management at Washington Prime, said the company was “unable to comment on behalf of a tenant.”
Fulton Bank is the Lehigh Valley’s fourth-largest bank in terms of market share, according to the latest Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. report. As of June 30, Fulton Bank had $1.77 billion in deposits within the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area, giving it 8.8% market share and trailing Wells Fargo, Truist Bank and PNC Bank.
After the closures, Trapnell said Fulton Bank will operate 14 branches across Lehigh and Northampton counties and seven in Berks County. Across its five-state footprint, which includes Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Virginia, Fulton Bank will have a total of 202 locations after the closures occur.
Fulton Financial is more likely known locally for its ownership of the former Lafayette Ambassador, which it bought in 1987. Last year, however, Fulton Financial decided to consolidate Lafayette Ambassador into Fulton Bank, phasing out the Lafayette Ambassador name in September.
Fulton Financial has about $24.6 billion in assets and 3,500 full-time equivalent employees. Also recently, the company agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty after the SEC found Fulton Financial inaccurately presented its financial performance in late 2016 and early 2017, according to a news release Sept. 28. The company did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings.