Beneficial Bank: WSFS and Beneficial Announce Retail Banking Office Optimization Plan

WILMINGTON, Del., Dec. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WSFS Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WSFS) ("WSFS") and Beneficial Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BNCL) ("Beneficial"), jointly announced a retail banking office optimization plan that aligns with the previously reported intent to merge Beneficial Bank into WSFS Bank. The plan includes the consolidation of 25% of the combined Beneficial and WSFS retail banking offices due to an overall decline in branch transactional activity, Customers' rapid adoption and usage of digital services, geographic overlap and optimization opportunities. To continue delivering on its mission of "We Stand For Service" amidst evolving Customer expectations, WSFS also committed to reinvest an incremental $32 million of the estimated cost savings from the retail office optimization plan into a five-year transformational investment in technology and delivery systems to create a top-tier physical and digital servicing platform that will significantly enhance Customer experiences across all business lines. Teams from both institutions conducted an extensive analysis of the combined franchise to study market overlap, transaction trends, space considerations, cost of ownership, business opportunities, the brand experience, visibility from high-traffic roadways, and the accessibility of each location. WSFS leveraged this due diligence to determine that it will consolidate 14 Beneficial and 11 WSFS retail banking offices of the combined network. WSFS also plans to sell five additional retail banking offices located on the outer edges of the combined core footprint. Most closures will occur at the conversion of Beneficial Bank into WSFS Bank, which is expected to occur in August 2019.Eighty percent (80%) of the consolidating retail offices are less than three miles from remaining locations, including nearly a third that are less than a mile away. WSFS is offering jobs to all Beneficial and WSFS team members of the consolidating banking offices within the Retail Division of WSFS Bank. WSFS will also raise the minimum wage across the combined organization to WSFS' current minimum of $15 an hour.The planned combination and ongoing delivery transformation will make WSFS the largest, premier, longest-standing, locally-headquartered community bank for the Greater Delaware Valley with approximately $13 billion in assets and growing."We have worked quickly, but diligently, on our plan to combine our two institutions, which included identifying the retail space that will best help us deliver top-tier quality services and solutions for Customers across the Delaware Valley," said Rodger Levenson, WSFS' Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, who will become President and Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2019. "This retail banking office optimization initiative and our planned technology reinvestment, combined with a larger balance sheet and ...Full story available on Benzinga.com