East Boston Savings Bank (EBSB) is again trying to expand its branch footprint by opening a new branch office in Somerville.
EBSB Chairman and CEO, Richard Gavegnano announced that the Bank filed a notice with the Division of Banks on November 20, 2012 to establish a branch office at 37 Union Square, Somerville.
If approved by the Division of Banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) the Somerville branch could become the third addition to the EBSB Company in less than two years.
In 2011, the FDIC approved two new EBSB locations in Cambridge and Danvers. The Cambridge branch is located at 2172 Massachusetts Avenue at the corner of Rindge Avenue, which was formerly occupied by Pemberton Market.
The Danvers branch took over the space that was formerly occupied by Movieworks at 10 Elm Street, in “The Atrium” at the corner of Elm Street and High Street.
If the Somerville branch is approved EBSB will operate 25 full-service branches (including its Mt. Washington Bank (MWB) division) in the greater Boston metropolitan area in Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk counties.
In 2010, EBSB completed its acquisition of South Boston-based MWB. The merger increased EBSB’s market share ranking in Boston from ninth to fifth among all retail banks.
In July 2010, EBSB’s stock shot up 40 points as Meridian Interstate Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for EBSB, announced a definitive merger agreement with MWB. Mt. Washington, a 115 year old institution, operated seven offices in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and had assets of $516 million, deposits of $372 million and retained earnings of $32 million.
The transaction increased EBSB’s deposits from $859 million to $1.2 billion.