One year after M&T Bank navigated the
The reemergence of tensions in the Nutmeg State stems in part from problems that M&T encountered over Labor Day weekend, when the bank was converting People's United systems onto the M&T platform. The job cuts in Connecticut, first announced last year, are also drawing renewed scrutiny.
In a letter Wednesday to M&T, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong described various complaints that his office has received from both consumers and bank employees in connection with the recent systems conversion.
"Customers have been blocked from online accounts and phone apps, wait times in branches and on the phone have been unacceptably long, real estate closings may have been delayed and otherwise complicated, automatic payments have been disrupted, among other complaints," Tong wrote.
"We have heard complaints from employees and former employees that experienced People's United workers most knowledgeable with the banking systems have been sidelined during the conversion."
While Tong acknowledged that systems conversions typically encounter challenges, he also wrote: "I share your customers' outrage at the serious lack of preparation for this conversion."
Other Connecticut politicians were more subdued in their comments about the systems conversion. M&T closed on its $7.6 billion acquisition of Bridgeport, Connecticut-based People's United in April.
Christopher Rosario, a Democratic state representative who represents Bridgeport, said that while many individuals reported a seamless transfer, a "pretty steady stream of customers" are still having trouble logging in to their online accounts.
"Other people have had issues with business banking," Rosario said in an interview. "This is to be expected with large corporate mergers."
A spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said that M&T has stayed in contact with the governor's office and the state Department of Banking during the merger.
"The administration is closely monitoring M&T's progress as they convert electronic systems," the governor's spokesperson said in an email.
More than 90% of People's United customers who have tried to log in to M&T's mobile banking platform have been successful, according to Michael Keegan, executive vice president and head of community markets at M&T.
"The vast majority of people had a very good experience through the conversion," Keegan said in an interview. "But we're still focused on the 10% that haven't. That's where we're focusing our time now, making sure those people are successfully on board."
Conversions of electronic systems following bank mergers often encounter snags, sparking customer frustration.
After Truist Financial
Complaints against the Charlotte, North Carolina, bank were up 81% in March compared with January, according to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data.
Tong, a Democrat elected as attorney general in 2018, wrote to M&T in August 2021 expressing concern about the bank's plans at that time for 747 layoffs in Connecticut.
Later, M&T made certain commitments about the size of the workforce that it planned to maintain in Connecticut. The bank said that it would keep 1,959 Connecticut-based workers, including 1,000 employees in Bridgeport.
In his letter Wednesday, Tong stated that his office has heard about People's United employees who are being retained, but in positions that pay significantly less. He also wrote that his office has been told about jobs being relocated from elsewhere in Connecticut to Bridgeport in order to satisfy the bank's commitment to employ 1,000 people in the community.
Additionally, Tong said that his office has received complaints from laid-off employees who say they have not gotten timely information about severance payments, vacation payouts and more.
Keegan said Friday that M&T's pledge to maintain 1,959 Connecticut-based employees, including 1,000 based in Bridgeport, "remains our commitment."
M&T in New York, which is seeking regulatory approval to buy People’s United Financial, recently disclosed plans for around 1,000 layoffs. The backlash — focused on job cuts in the seller’s hometown of Bridgeport — has been stronger than in other recent deals.
"We want to continue to grow and need talented employees to do it," Keegan said.
Of the 747 People's United employees notified about layoffs last year, a "small percentage" lost their jobs after the deal closed in April, while others left at the conversion and "some will remain" for the next three months, Keegan added.
In his letter to the $204 billion-asset M&T, Tong posed a series of questions about both job cuts and the systems conversion, and he requested a meeting with M&T officials to discuss the concerns. A meeting is expected to be held in the coming days.
