May 28, 2009|By Hanah Cho | Hanah Cho,Hanah.cho@baltsun.com
Shawn Mullins could not withdraw money from his bank this past weekend. That's because his Provident Bank ATM card was denied, and he did not receive a new one from M&T Bank Corp., the Buffalo, N.Y., institution that bought Provident and completed its takeover during the Memorial Day weekend.
"I'm a little frustrated because I didn't have access to my money," said Mullins, who stopped by a former Provident branch in Hampden on Wednesday for some help. Still, Mullins, a 13-year Provident customer, said he is willing to give M&T a chance because "you may end up having something better than before."
With the merger complete, former Provident customers are trying to make sense of what having a new bank means, while M&T is working to retain them.
To that end, Atwood "Woody" Collins III, president of M&T Bank's Mid-Atlantic Division, and other executives have been visiting former Provident branches, including a stop Wednesday at the Hampden branch, since the weekend. Collins plans to visit all 135 former Provident branches by the end of the week.
"We paid for 100 percent of [Provident] customers, and you want to keep 100 percent of customers," Collins said.
Bert Ely, a banking analyst in Northern Virginia, said the acquiring bank could lose customers for several reasons, including that some customers do not want to do business with an out-of-state bank and the inconvenience of dealing with new account numbers.
Another factor is competition as other banks try to poach not only customers but employees, Ely said.
"The challenge for M&T is to hang onto good employees and good customers," Ely said. "They know full well that they're going to lose some."
Provident, Maryland's largest independent bank, had been a fixture in Baltimore for more than 120 years. But in December, Provident agreed to sell itself as its profits were hurt by declines in the value of its investment portfolio in the past year. The stock-swap deal was valued at $407.1 million at that time.
Since January, M&T has been preparing for the conversion that culminated over the weekend. Each branch received a box that included everything from signs for the facade to marketing materials. And the bank assigned two M&T "buddies" to each branch for the next two weeks to help with the transition, Collins said.
On Tuesday, Provident branches opened as M&T. Accounts and balances have been transferred to M&T, while new ATM cards and checks were sent out. Rates and terms have not changed on CDs, loans, lines of credits or overdraft protection accounts.
Meanwhile, M&T eliminated 521 Provident jobs and kept 1,305 positions under the merger. It closed six Provident branches, none in the Baltimore region, which were within a mile of an M&T branch.
When asked about additional branch consolidation and closures, Collins said he expects to take a "very studied" look at Provident's network. He added that he does not have a specific number in mind.
Sam Wylie, a 12-year Provident customer, said he was happy to see familiar faces at the Hampden branch, where he does his banking at least once a week.
"I still get free checking, but I would be concerned if I see new charges," Wylie said as he filled out a deposit slip with his 2-year-old son, Sammy, nearby. "For the most part, I'm happy they kept the people at my branch."
