Bank of America is selling its four North Olympic Peninsula branch locations to Snohomish County-based 1st Security Bank, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Checking, savings and loan customers at the Bank of America branches in Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend and Port Hadlock will become 1st Security customers after the sale’s expected close in January 2016.
“We are excited to have the Jefferson and Clallam County employees and customers join the 1st Security family,” said Joe Adams, 1st Security Bank CEO, in a Wednesday news release.
“We believe this will be a great fit and is a natural extension of our Puget Sound focused retail footprint.”
Based in Mountlake Terrace, 1st Security Bank now has branches in Seattle, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Redmond, Poulsbo and Puyallup.
The sale of the Peninsula branches is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The company plans to “retain the employees and keep each of the locations open after the transaction is complete,” officials said.
Adams and other 1st Security officials could not be reached for further comment Wednesday.
Britney Sheehan, regional media relations manager for Bank of America, confirmed the sale Wednesday.
Bank of America is in a “continuous process” of evaluating its network of financial centers, she said.
As more and more customers do business online or on mobile devices, Bank of America must decide whether to sell or to close certain branches, Sheehan said.
“We felt like keeping jobs and preserving banks in that community was important, so we made the decision to sell,” Sheehan said in a telephone interview.
Bank of America closed its Forks branch in 2012.
Sheehan would not disclose the number of customers at the Peninsula’s remaining branches.
“We felt in this case that selling these particular locations was the best decision all around,” Sheehan said.
She declined further comment on the reasons for Bank of America leaving the Peninsula.
Officials with 1st Security Bank said the four Peninsula branches have about $268 million in deposits and less than $1 million in loans.
Under the terms of the agreement, 1st Security Bank will assume certain liabilities, including checking, savings, IRAs and CDs belonging to households and small business customers on the Peninsula, officials said.
The bank will acquire all four Bank of America retail locations and ATMs.
Two branches are owned and two are leased, with 1st Security Bank assuming the leases.
First Federal remains the largest bank on the North Olympic Peninsula.
First Fed President and CEO Larry Hueth was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Union Bank closed its three North Olympic Peninsula branches as part of a move to shut 20 locations in the state.
The bank closed its Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Sequim and Poulsbo branches on Feb. 20, followed on Feb. 27 by closures of branches in Bremerton, Silverdale and Gig Harbor.
