Huntington Bank will be closing its downtown Jackson branch at One Jackson Square at the end of the year, leaving space it (and its predecessor banks) have occupied for nearly forty years. At the same time, Huntington will be consolidating 70 branches in other communities.
Emily Smith, Vice President Media Relations said, “Huntington regularly reviews its distribution network to ensure our mix of branches, ATMs, and online and mobile banking meets our customers’ evolving needs. In making these adjustments, branches were reviewed for customer traffic patterns, transaction trends and proximity to nearby Huntington branch locations. Many of these branches have an existing Huntington branch in close proximity that can support customers of the consolidating offices.”
The existing Downtown Jackson Remote Drive-thru (201 N. Mechanic St) will remain open (adjacent to One Jackson Square); there is an ATM at this site that will remain. The North Street Branch (1111 W. North Street) is 1.7 miles away, and the West Point Branch (1514 W Morrell Street) is 1.9 miles. Customers will receive additional follow up information regarding next steps with their safety deposit boxes.
Smith encouraged existing customers to transition to other Huntington locations. “Our priority is to help our customers’ transition to a new location and to offer more extensive digital and mobile capabilities to meet changing customer channel preferences. Savings from the branch consolidation will be substantially reinvested in these increasingly-used channels”, Smith said.
As to current employees at the branch, Smith stated, “It’s our goal to place the vast majority of our branch colleagues in other roles where they can continue their career with Huntington.”
In a letter to customers, Executive Vice President Jon Greenwood encouraged customers to watch for the launch of a new online banking product, “The Hub” and to use the bank’s mobile app.
A bank has been in 100 East Michigan Avenue location since 1979, when City Bank and Trust Co. (the predecessor to Huntington Bank) relocated in what was then the brand new “City Bank Building”, now One Jackson Square.
City Bank & Trust Co. was established in downtown Jackson in 1848. In 1979, City Bank was acquired by Citizens Bank. In 2013, Ohio based First Merit purchased the Flint based Citizens Bank and renamed all Michigan branches First Merit. Just three years later, Huntington Bancshares, Inc. acquired First Merit and renamed the Jackson branches Huntington Bank. Years of consolidation and reduction during the First Merit and Huntington years leaves Jackson with three Huntington Bank branches, down from more than a dozen at the peak of the Citizens Bank years.
Huntington closed more than 100 branches in 2016 during the First Merit acquisition. Another 39 branches in Ohio were shuttered last year.
The reduction of traditional bank branches is a trend. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published this statistic: Between June 2016 and June 2017, more than 1,700 United States bank branches were closed, the largest 12-month decline on record.