Three local FirstMerit branches to close

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Ownership of a nearly 30-year-old bank in downtown Delaware has changed for the second time.

Home Savings of America built the branch, 95 E. William St., in 1988. During the same year, Premier Bank & Trust acquired location until its name changed to FirstMerit Bank a decade later, according to information from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Delaware County Auditor’s websites.

The 2,780-square-foot building alone has acknowledged the traditions of the community it serves. Art depicting harness racing is displayed on the bank’s outer wall fronting East William Street in honor of the Little Brown Jug, which had its 71st edition last week.

According to the FDIC, the location, which has more than $28.4 million in deposits, is now part of Huntington National Bank, which has another city branch at 1750 Columbus Pike in the Delaware Community Plaza Shopping Center.

Due to an acquisition of FirstMerit banks, Huntington intends to close or consolidate 107 branches including three in Delaware County, according to an application sent to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in March. The bank will relocate more than $42.3 million in deposits from FirstMerit locations in Lewis Center, Powell and Westerville combined to nearby Huntington branches.

The bank believes it’s inappropriate to comment now on the closings listed on the application as customers will be notified by mail in November, said Bill Eiler, a Huntington spokesman.

The closings come after FirstMerit Corp. was acquired by Columbus-based Huntington Bancshares Inc. for about $3.4 billion. The transaction, which was completed last month, grows the company to about $100 billion in assets with nearly 1,000 branch locations across eight states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Hungtingon will have FirstMerit’s system integrated with their own in the first quarter of next year, according to Stephen D. Steinour, its chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“As we welcome our new customers and colleagues, we look forward to working with them and sharing our brand promise as a bank focused on doing the right thing. We will continue to build on a legacy of strengthening our local communities through commitments extending over more than 150 years,” he said in a statement from last month.

Editor’s note: The FirstMerit Bank, 95 E. William St., in downtown Delaware was built in 1988 by Home Savings of America and was purchased by Premier Bank & Trust. An earlier version was not inaccurate.

The FirstMerit Bank branch at 95 E. William St. in downtown Delaware has become part of Huntington National Bank. Huntington acquired FirstMerit banks this year. Three other FirstMerit locations in Delaware County will be among 107 branches in Huntington’s eight-state footprint to close.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2016/09/web1_DSC_0004-1.jpgThe FirstMerit Bank branch at 95 E. William St. in downtown Delaware has become part of Huntington National Bank. Huntington acquired FirstMerit banks this year. Three other FirstMerit locations in Delaware County will be among 107 branches in Huntington’s eight-state footprint to close. The Gazette

By Brandon Klein

[email protected]

Branches closing in Delaware County

1156 E. Powell Road, Lewis Center, Ohio, 43035

9494 Wedgewood Blvd., Powell, Ohio, 43065

7345 state Route 3, Westerville, Ohio, 43082

Brandon Klein can be reached at 740-413-0904 or on Twitter at @brandoneklein.

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