People's United Financial, Inc. is a savings and loan holding company incorporated under the state laws of Delaware. The company owns People's United Bank, a federally chartered stock savings bank headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut. People's United Bank is the second largest independent bank headquartered in New England, behind Citizens Financial Group.
A diversified financial services company with over $39 billion in assets, the bank provides consumer and commercial banking services through a network of subsidiary banks with approximately 416 branches in Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, and New York. Through People's United Financial provides equipment financing, asset management, brokerage and financial advisory services, and insurance services. People's United also offers a People's United Bank credit card through Citizens Financial Group.
History
People's United Bank, formerly People's Bank, was founded in 1842 as Bridgeport Savings Bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1981, People's Bank became the first in the country to provide a telephone bill paying service. By 2002, People's Bank was the 40th largest company in Connecticut by revenue. On November 22, 2010, the bank opened its first location in Boston.
People's Bank becomes People's United Bank
People's Bank changed its name to People's United Bank on June 7, 2007 following its acquisition of Chittenden Corporation for $1.9 billion. In July 2010, the bank announced a $5 billion market cap on its stock, which it pays a 4.5% dividend on. It is also known to have over $2 billion on its balance sheet.
In the fall of 2016, the state of Massachusetts announced they would be moving their core accounts from Santander Bank to People’s United Bank. Approximately $50 billion moves through Massachusetts' banking account each year.
Community involvement
Virgilio Lopez of People's United Bank serves as treasurer for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport. and Jorge Atencio of People's United Bank is its secretary.
People's United Bank is a corporate partner of the University of Bridgeport. As a partner, employees of People's United Bank receive a 10% tuition discount.
Acquisitions
People's Bank
- 1927 - Bridgeport Savings Bank
- 1955 - Southport Savings Bank
- 1983 - People's Bank of Vernon
- 1981 - Assets of First Stamford Bank and Trust Company
- 1982 - Guardian Federal Savings and Loan Association of Bridgeport
- 1986 - Norwalk-based First Federal Savings Bank
- 1991 - Deposits of Hartford-based Landmark Bank
- 1998 - Norwich Financial Corp., the parent company of the Norwich Savings Society
People's United Financial
- 2008 - Chittenden Corporation, comprising Chittenden Bank, headquartered in Burlington, Vermont; Ocean Bank, headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Maine Bank & Trust, headquartered in Portland, Maine; Merrill Bank, headquartered in Bangor, Maine; Flagship Bank, headquartered in Worcester; Massachusetts; and Bank of Western Massachusetts, headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts.
- 2010 - Financial Federal Corporation, an equipment financing company headquartered in Houston, Texas (February); Butler Bank, based in Lowell, Massachusetts (April); LSB Corporation, a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, RiverBank, is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts (December), Smithtown Bancorp, a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Bank of Smithtown, is headquartered in Smithtown, New York (December).
- 2011 - Danvers Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company whose sole subsidiary, Danversbank, is headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts (July).
- 2012 - 57 branches in the greater New York metro area from RBS Citizens, N.A., with 53 branches in Stop & Shop supermarkets.
Data loss
In 2008 the bank was involved in the loss of unencrypted backup tapes that included the "names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and other information" of BNY Mellon and People's United Bank customers. The tapes were lost on February 27, supposedly en route to Archive America, a data storage firm. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal stated that "as many as 4.5 million accounts were on a single tape and hundreds of thousands of them were Connecticut residents and about 550,000 were People's United Bank depositors or accounts". In that same year, a homeless, unemployed roofer of Fairfield, Connecticut located sensitive bank documents while dumpster diving.
Divisions
- R.C. Knox and Company, Inc - insurance
Subsidiaries
- Bank of Western Massachusetts
- Butler Bank (acquired April 2010)
- Chittenden Trust Company (acquired January 1, 2008)
- Flagship Bank
- Maine Bank and Trust
- Merrill Bank
- Ocean Bank
References
External links
- Official Website of People's United Bank
