SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) – The Fleet bank name was officially replaced at branches in Maine with that of Bank of America beginning Monday, nearly 14 months after executives announced Fleet’s sale.

Gov. John Baldacci joined local Bank of America officials for a ceremony in South Portland marking the transition.

The new signs come on what bank officials have dubbed “Customer Day One.” The name change occurs in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts, in addition to Maine. The transition from Fleet to Bank of America began in August in upstate New York and rolled on to branches in Greater Boston and the rest of eastern Massachusetts earlier this month.

“Our new Bank of America signs, banking centers and ATMs are a signal of our ongoing participation in the economic life of Maine,” Betsey Greenstein, president of Bank of America’s Maine operations.

In Maine, the occasion was marked by an announcement by Bank of America of a $50,000 grant to help provide food to more than 500 food pantries through the Preble Street Resources Center in Portland, Manna program in Bangor, and Good Shepherd Food-Bank in Lewiston.

Bank of America executives contend customers are getting more than a new name. They say they’ll have more products, mostly lower fees and access to 5,800 branches and 16,500 ATMs in 29 states.

Fleet started in Rhode Island in 1982, and then changed its name to Fleet Financial Group. It later moved its headquarters to Boston.

Bank of America enters the Rhode Island banking market as the second largest financial institution behind Citizens Bank, which holds more than 40 percent of bank deposits in the state.