WSFS and Beneficial plan to close 25 retail banking locations

WSFS Financial Corporation and Beneficial Bancorp jointly announced a plan to consolidate 25 percent of their combined retail banking offices.

The banks stated that the “retail banking office optimization plan” is a response to an overall decline in branch transactions, the rapid adoption of digital services by customers and geographic overlap between the two banks, which announced a merger earlier this year.

Teams from both banks conducted an extensive analysis of market overlap, transaction needs, space considerations and the accessibility of individual locations. The studies recommended that 14 Beneficial and 11 WSFS retail banking offices should close. Many of these are located on the outer edges of the banks’ footprint.

WSFS has committed to reinvesting the $32 million in estimated cost savings into new technology and delivery systems for bank customers.

Most closures will occur at the conversion of Beneficial Bank into WSFS Bank, which is expected to occur in August 2019.

Eighty percent 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.

“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.

WSFS has posted on its website (wsfsbank.com/beneficial) the 25 retail banking offices that are slated
to consolidate as part of the retail banking office optimization plan.