Bangor Savings Bank completes Pepperell buy

BANGOR – Bangor Savings Bank announced Wednesday that it has completed its acquisition of Biddeford-based Pepperell Bank & Trust.

Bangor Savings is now in control of Pepperell’s five branches, all located in York County. They will eventually assume the Bangor Savings Bank name, logo and benefits.

Pepperell’s ATM customers are immediately eligible, however, for Bangor Savings Bank’s “Free ATM Worldwide” program, which allows customers to use any ATM without paying a fee. Last November, Bangor Savings became the first bank in Maine and one of the first in the world to offer all of its checking customers free access to ATMs worldwide, according to a news release.

Bank officials said it will take longer for Pepperell customers to take advantage of other Bangor Savings Bank benefits.

“Legally speaking, Pepperell’s customers, employees and buildings are now all part of Bangor Savings Bank, but operationally speaking, the transition won’t be complete until the last week in September,” Yellow Light Breen, senior vice president of Bangor Savings, said Wednesday.

Pepperell customers can continue to bank at Pepperell’s old locations, but will not be able to do their banking at any other Bangor Savings locations until the end of September, Breen said. He said there were “many steps in the process” and it would take until late September before Pepperell’s Web site, signs and computer system can be converted to Bangor Savings.

When the changes are complete, Breen said Pepperell’s business customers will benefit the most.

“The most dramatic benefits are for businesses. We’ll be able to give them more cash management programs and expand their lending limits because of our size, a lot of things that Pepperell couldn’t do on its own,” Breen said.

Jim Conlon, Bangor Savings Bank’s president and CEO, said the bank is happy with its expansion into the southern part of the state.

“We are pleased to welcome more than 4,000 Pepperell Bank & Trust customers to the Bangor Savings Bank family. … They will join more than 100,000 Maine customers who have already chosen the unique value of Bangor Savings,” Conlon said in the press release. “We are really thrilled to be coming to the communities of Biddeford, Saco, Hollis and York.”