Focus : Banking & Finance Bank leapfrogs Fairfield for Westchester Citizens has seven New York branches, headed for 70 By BRYAN F. YURCAN

Focus : Banking & Finance
Bank leapfrogs Fairfield for Westchester
Citizens has seven New York branches, headed for 70
By BRYAN F. YURCAN

In neighboring Westchester County, Citizens Bank has just opened its seventh branch after arriving in the county three years ago.

In Connecticut, Citizens has 51 branches but none so far in Fairfield County, which is demographically and economically similar to Westchester.

Rich Barry, President and CEO of Citizens Bank, said the bank has been successful with its branches in the triangle between Hartford, New Haven and along the eastern shoreline, and has concentrated its efforts in that region.

However, Barry said Citizens will continue to look at opportunities to open additional branches throughout the state.

“We are always looking for the right opportunity to expand our presence in Connecticut,” he said.

Judging from the bank’s quick growth in Westchester, Citizens may start looking at its neighbor, Fairfield County, soon.

Tami Gunsch, Citizens’ senior vice president of retail for the area covering Albany, N.Y., to Queens, said the Westchester branches have been very successful.

“Within the past year every one of (the Westchester branches) has been doing extremely well in generating new deposits and new customers in the bank,” she said.

Five of the seven Citizens Bank branches in Westchester are in-store branches. The bank has an exclusive deal with the Stop & Shop chain of grocery stores to open 70 in-store branches throughout the Hudson Valley and Long Island in New York.

Gunsch said customers have been attracted to the convenience of being able to bank while shopping for groceries.

She said the in-store branches are also helped because they are open seven days per week, and are open until 7 p.m. weekdays.

“In Westchester County, 5 (p.m.) to 7 p.m. seems to be our busiest time,” she said.

Citizens spokesman Chris Riley said given the success the bank has seen by expanding to Westchester, it would consider Fairfield County for future expansions.

Reader Comments

Please send us your comments!

Add Your Comments

TalkBack & let us know what YOU think.

If you have something to add to this discussion topic, we'd like to know.

To send a comment:

1. Enter your full name
2. Enter your email address
3. Post your comment and click 'Submit'

Full Name:

Email Address:

Example: johndoe@aol.com

Comments:
Post your comment here
(WestfairInc reserves the right to edit any text for broadcast)