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V O L . X X V I I N O. X X V I N OV E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 2 1 28 B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E / I N S U R A N C E I n a day and age when banking apps have become a routine part of manag- ing personal finances, bank branches continue to crop up across Maine. Chase Bank opened the first of four planned branches, on Monument Square in Portland. ree other branches will open in newly built space. Chase has a freestanding "pad" site branch set to open at Rock Row in Westbrook. A branch office in Falmouth is planned for the ground floor of a four-story building being developed on U.S. Route 1 in Falmouth. In the not- so-distant future, it will break ground on another pad site branch, in front of the Hannaford in Yarmouth. Maine Community Bank recently opened a branch in a three-story build- ing on Larrabee Road in Westbrook, directly opposite Rock Row. e three- story building serves as the operations center and on the ground floor has a branch office for Biddeford Savings Bank. Maine Community Bank also owns Mechanics Savings. Bangor Savings Bank is putting the final touches on the makeover of a former University Credit Union branch, where it will relocate in January. Its move is a short one, from across Brighton Avenue. Each of those Bangor Savings branches have Portland addresses but are not far from the Chase branch at Rock Row and a planned credit union branch. at credit union branch will be for Atlantic Federal Credit Union, which plans to build on a pad site in front of the shopping center with Shaw's, Kohl's and Pizza Hut, among other tenants. It will be on the west side of Riverside, with a Westbrook address. Christopher McGorrill, Atlantic FCU's chief marketing officer, said it will break ground soon, and the branch is on track to open next year. In Waterville, Katahdin Trust Co. has a branch under construction not far from the Maine Turnpike. All this is happening at a time when big banks are closing branches, not dras- tically but prudently — more of a trim than a full haircut. U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo, PNC, Capital One and Chase all closed U.S. branches in 2020, according to the Financial Brand. But in Maine, which has 30 active commercial banks, physical branches remains a strong compo- nent of doing business. Brick-and- mortar is still an important part of showing a commitment to Maine communities. By market share in Maine, the top five banks are TD Bank, Bangor Savings, Camden National, KeyBank and Bank of America, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 'Pitching' mortgages Michael MacDonald has joined Bangor Savings Bank as a mortgage develop- ment officer associate. Fans of the Portland Sea Dogs might remember Mike MacDonald, as he was known, as an efficiency- minded, reliable right-handed pitcher who was here for the 2012 season. MacDonald, 40, was born in Camden and played baseball at the University of Maine. He was the first Mainer to play for the Sea Dogs. After being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, he spent nine seasons in the minors, pitching for a dozen teams at the Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A levels. For his career, he had a 61-62 career record and a 4.63 earned run average, according to Baseball-Reference.com. His long stint in the minors bears little resemblance to the fictional life of Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner in the movie "Bull Durham." C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 0 » P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N F O C U S FINANCIAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SERVICES B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n Banking apps are the norm, but so are new bank branches In Westbrook, Chase Bank's branch will be part of the Rock Row development. In Westbrook, Atlantic Federal Credit Union plans to break ground soon on a new branch. CHASE BANK ATLANTIC FCU BIDDEFORD SAVINGS BANK Roundup Even as apps play a larger role in personal finance, brick-and- mortar branches are still key ways for customers to talk to loan officers and handle routine transactions. In Westbrook, Biddeford Savings Bank has a ground-floor space across from Rock Row.

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