Liberty Bank Closing Essex Branch

ESSEX, CT — Liberty Bank, which is based in Middletown, has told regulators that a half-dozen of its Connecticut branches will be closing by the fall, including the one located at 7 Main Street in Essex.

According to an article written by Patch Staff reporter Chris Dehnel, Bank officials filed the plans with the Connecticut Department of Banking last week and the following branches will be closing by Oct. 1:

• 127 S. Main St., Beacon Falls
• 774 Farmington Ave., Bristol
• 7 Main St., Essex
• 61 Bank St., New London
• 1570 Southford Road, Southbury
• 1232 Farmington Ave., West Hartford

The Liberty Bank located in Deep River is slated to remain open at this time.

The six branches amount to approximately 10 percent of Liberty Bank's roster in Connecticut.

Dehnel explained in his article that Liberty Bank's roots can be traced back to 1825 and it is one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the country. The institution boasts more than $7 billion in assets and offers consumer and commercial banking, cash management, home mortgages, business loans, insurance and investment services.

The bank released the following statement Thursday afternoon:
"We are continuously evaluating all aspects of our business, including our branch network and ways to reinvest in the Bank. As part of our evaluation, we consider a number of factors including branch profitability, growth of households and deposits, deposit mix, transaction volume and market penetration. In addition, we always monitor and respond to our customers' changing banking habits, advancements in technology and the presence of competitor banks in our markets.
"As a result of our thorough research and after thoughtful discussion, we submitted applications to close these six branches. However, customers who bank with us at one of these branches will continue to benefit from a first-class banking experience at other nearby Liberty Bank branches."

With reporting from Chris Dehnel.