June 28, 2005

People's Bank To Invest In City Neighborhood With New State-Of-The-Art Branch On Main Street

BRIDGEPORT, CONN. - People's Bank will open one of its premier branches at 3969 Main Street in Bridgeport on August 22. The 4,200 square-foot office will offer many of the features the bank recently introduced at its new state-of-the-art Fairfield and West Hartford Center branches.

As more customers use drive-up banking services, the branch will have three drive-up lanes, the most of any bank in the City of Bridgeport. Two lanes will be staffed and the other lane will offer 24-hour drive-up ATM service. The branch will also feature a free coffee bar, generous safe deposit boxes and ample free parking.

People's will merge its neighboring Brookside and Madison Avenue branches into one modern and much larger facility. "We've been looking for an ideal location that could offer three drive-up service lanes," said Armando Goncalves, first vice president and growth manager for People's Greater Bridgeport branches. "We're excited to have found an ideal location for our new branch. Bridgeport is People' hometown and we want to express gratitude to our loyal customers by giving them a branch of this caliber with the finest features and services in the state."

Business customers will have two dedicated windows for their specific needs and a drive-up night depository. Those customers requiring Commercial banking products and services or Wealth Management & Trust services will have dedicated offices to meet their specific needs. The branch staff will be the same staff that served customers in the Brookside and Madison Avenue offices.

"As always, customer convenience and service is our primary concern," Goncalves said. Accordingly, People's has extended the hours in which the office will be open. The branch lobby will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The staffed drive-up lanes will be open Monday through Wednesday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and from 8:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The drive-up ATM is available 24 hours daily.

Virgilio Lopez, financial services manager, and Silvia Flores, customer service manager, will lead the new branch. Both have their Series 6 and 63 licenses from the National Association of Securities Dealers and are licensed to sell life insurance and mortgage products. Lopez is currently the financial services manager at the Madison Avenue office. Flores is the financial services manager at People's branch in the Madison Avenue Super Stop & Shop. Phillip Kelly, a People's financial advisor with additional investment licenses, will also serve customers from the new location.

In addition to this new branch, People's offers seven convenient locations within Bridgeport's city limits, including two seven-day in-person banking branches in Super Stop & Shop stores - one on Madison Avenue, near the current Madison Avenue branch, and the other at the Brookside Super Stop & Shop on Main Street. In addition, the bank has branches at North and Park Avenue, on Boston Avenue, Barnum Avenue, at the People's Bank headquarters building on Main Street, and a special service branch for the residents and employees of the 3030 Park retirement community.

Founded in 1842, People's Bank (peoples.com) is one of Connecticut's largest banks with assets of $11 billion, more than 240 ATMs and 154 branches, 67 of which offer convenient seven-day banking in Super Stop & Shop locations across the state. A diversified financial services company, People's Bank provides consumer, commercial, insurance, retail investment and trust services to personal and business banking customers. People's Bank is the official banking partner of the University of Connecticut Division of Athletics. For more information about People's, its products and services, please call 800-772-1090, visit peoples.com or any of People's branches.