Northeast Bank to close two branches next year

LEWISTON — Lewiston-based Northeast Bank will close two branches early next year, in Lewiston and Mechanic Falls, the bank announced Thursday afternoon. The branches are at 882 Lisbon St., Lewiston, and 26 Pleasant St., Mechanic Falls.

In a prepared statement, Bank President and CEO Jim Delamater said the closing in Lewiston was tied to the success of the bank's 4-year-old 500 Canal St. branch, not far from the Lisbon Street branch. And he said the Mechanic Falls closing was related to a new branch being built in Poland, a state-of-the-art facility 3½ miles away scheduled to open in February.

"Opening and closing branches is part of the management decision-making process, taking into account transaction volumes, customer traffic, community development trends and other indicators, like the growth of online and mobile banking, an area we've been investing heavily in new technology and expanded platforms over the past 18 months. It's an interesting phenomenon, we're seeing an increase in new customers and accounts, yet branch transaction levels are on the decline with self-service and electronic banking steadily rising," Delamater said.

The Lewiston branch will close at the end of business on Jan. 8, 2010; the Mechanic Falls branch will close Feb. 5, 2010. Customer accounts will be transferred to the Lewiston Gateway Branch and the new Poland branch, respectively, bank officials said, and all branch staff is being reassigned. No jobs will be lost.