The Bank of America branch in the heart of downtown New Canaan has been “temporarily closed,” company officials say.
A sign on the 94 Elm St. building’s door—and messages on the Bank of America’s website and outgoing voicemail—all refer customers to the company’s mobile app or online services.
Yet it’s unclear why the branch is closed, how long it will be closed or whether company officials expect it to close permanently.
Multiple branch locations in Norwalk, Westport, Stamford, Greenwich and Ridgefield, also have been closed, according to the company’s website.
Bank of America representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Responding to a NewCanaanite.com Tweet on the closure, the Bank of America Helpdesk wrote in a Twitter auto-reply, “Thanks for reaching out to us today. We apologize for any inconvenience during this difficult time of uncertainty. Due to the state of circumstances nationwide, some of our financial centers are temporary closed or have limited hours.”
Municipal health officials said they were not aware of any COVID-19-related issues at the branch.
Constructed in 1929 as the New Canaan Post Office—up till then located on Main Street—the Bank of America building was designed to complement the 1923 Playhouse on the opposite site of Elm. Five years ago, officials on the Planning & Zoning Commission criticized the bank for what they called an unkempt the exterior of the building.
This is just speculation, but I wondered if B of A might be moving with Merrill Lynch into the old post office building, since they are the parent company of Merrill. There appears to be enough space for retail banking, financial advisory services, and parking for both.
I hope Mr. Taylor’s speculation comes to be. However, it makes one wonder since all the other Bank of A’s locations are closed. I’ve read that many banks are closing their smaller branches or will do so in order to cut expenses.
If needed, how does one get to the safe deposit box?
I have just gotten off the phone with a representative (I called the Charlotte headquarters office), and she said you can schedule an appointment to access your lockbox at safebox@bofa.com. I haven’t tried it, but repeated the site back to her while on the phone. Good luck!
The rep. said “most likely due to COVID, but she did not know why closed.”
Very frustrating, and very poorly handled on BOA’s part.
Sent an email to the mentioned email address regarding access to our safe deposit box and it was returned because the inbox was FULL. Which means no one is monitoring the email address and there was no expectation that the banking community would require certain physical services. This is a disastrous public relations fiasco on BoA’s part. We need answers and access. I called the main headquarters and was told to expect a callback within 3-5 business days. But that didn’t tell me when we could physically get into our boxes. Totally unacceptable.
Closing branches without notice or explanation falls short of running a business
in the best interest of your customers.
A universal email should have been released to all customers. And trying to get into safety deposit boxes. Customers need to be up-to-date on this situation.
Customers are turned off by this unprofessional situation!
I would suggest that people that in need of services from Bank OF America, call the CT. Banking Commissioner. The number can be found online and they probably have a website. This office will investigate the reason the offices have closed without notice.
Louise Simpson