People's United Financial, Inc., was an American

bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') or bancorporation is often used to refer to such companies as w ...

that owned People's United Bank. The bank operated 403 branches in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, southeastern

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It was the second-largest full-service bank in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, one of the largest in the

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

, and the 46th-largest in the United States. On April 2, 2022, the bank merged with M&T Bank and was fully integrated into M&T by the third quarter of 2022.

History

The company was founded in 1842 as Bridgeport Savings Bank in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. In 1981, the bank became the first in the country to provide a telephone bill paying service. After acquiring People's Bank of Vernon, CT, in 1983, the company was renamed People's Bank. It then acquired several other banks in New England to become the second largest in the region. In 1985, the company began issuing credit cards, but by 2004, it sold its credit card division to the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

at a premium of $360 million. The company moved to a new headquarters building designed by

Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...

in 1989. On June 7, 2007, the bank changed its name to People's United Bank. In February 2008, a data storage company, Archive America, lost backup tapes in transit containing the "names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and other information" of customers of the bank and of

The Bank of New York Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...

. On November 22, 2010, the bank opened its first location in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. People's United was notably selected to manage the core bank accounts for the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

in November 2016, and was also selected to manage the core bank accounts for the state of

in August 2017. On February 22, 2021, M&T Bank, based in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, announced an agreement to acquire People's United Bank in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $7.6 billion.

Acquisition history

From its founding as Bridgeport Savings Bank to the present, People's United has acquired several banks and other financial institutions in New England including:

20th century

*1955: acquired Southport Savings Bank *1981: acquired the assets of First Stamford Bank and Trust Company *1982: acquired Guardian Federal Savings and Loan Association of Bridgeport *1986: acquired First Federal Savings Bank *1991: acquired the deposits of Hartford-based Landmark Bank *1998: acquired Norwich Financial Corporation for $164 million in cash

21st century

* January 1, 2008: acquired Chittenden Corporation for $1.9 billion Also in 2008, the bank acquired Ocean Bank of New Hampshire, Maine Bank & Trust, Merrill Merchants Bank, Flagship Bank, and Bank of Western Massachusetts. *February 2010: acquired Financial Federal Corporation, an equipment financing company *April 2010: acquired Butler Bank, which was seized by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...

*December 2010: acquired LSB Corporation and Smithtown Bancorp *July 2011: acquired Danvers Bancorp *2012: acquired 57 branches in the greater New York metro area from

, including 53 branches in Stop & Shop supermarkets *October 2015: People's United subsidiary acquired Kesten-Brown Insurance *April 2017: acquired Suffolk Bancorp *July 2017: acquired LEAF Commercial Capital *June 2018: People's United Bank agreed to purchase Farmington Bank in a deal valued at $544 million *November 2019: acquired Connecticut-based United Financial Bancorp.

Headquarters

People's United Financial's

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

was built in 1989, designed by architect

. Rising 18 stories above the northern side of

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

, the People's Bank Building (known officially as Bridgeport Center) is the tallest building in downtown

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

References

External links

{{authority control Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq American companies established in 1842 Banks established in 1842 Banks based in Connecticut Companies based in Bridgeport, Connecticut 1842 establishments in Connecticut 2022 mergers and acquisitions