TD Bank has notified federal banking regulators that it plans to close down four of its facilities in Massachusetts after the first of the year — two of them on Cape Ann.
The drive-through branch on Washington Street, just off Grant Circle, in Gloucester, and the branch office located at 15 Martin St. in Essex are both targeted for closure in February, according to reports.
The Washington Street branch currently offers only the drive-up window and automated teller machine services, with no lobby or office hours. The rest of the building is occupied by Re/Max Advantage Real Estate.
The branch in Essex is a full-service bank, and is one of just two full-service facilities being closed. The other is in Salisbury, while the fourth facility being closed in Massachusetts is a part-time outlet in the Cape Cod community of South Yarmouth.
TD is also planning to close one branch each in Connecticut, Vermont, New York state and New Jersey.
However, the East Coast banking giant did not indicate it plans to make any changes regarding its branch in downtown Gloucester, at Rogers Street and Harbor Loop. That would be the lone remaining TD Bank branch on Cape Ann.
TD Bank, popular among customers for its extended hours and accessibility, has more than 1,200 branches in 15 states from Maine to Florida and the District Columbia, though it does not extend west of Pennsylvania. It also includes branches in 114 cities and towns in Massachusetts alone.
A TD Bank representative at the Essex branch Saturday referred a call from the Times to corporate headquarters, and media relations personnel there could not be reached for comment.
A variety of media reports around the country, however, have noted that banks are taking a variety of steps to curb costs in the face of new mandates that put limits on service fees charged for overdrafts and uses of debit and credit cards.
The planned cutbacks in Gloucester and Essex mark the newest chapter in what has sometimes been a stormy Cape Ann presence for TD.
In 2010, the bank found itself at the center of a dispute with the city of Gloucester over discrepancies in city beach parking receipts.
In June of that year, parking receipts reported on deposit slips from TD came up short of the amount city workers believed had been deposited. Believing at first the shortfall may have been the work of parking attendants, the city fired one employee and suspended another. But another shortfall turned up a few weeks later.
At that point, Gloucester police, working with other city officials, carried out a "controlled drop," verifying the amount deposited before the bag or bags were placed into night deposit box at the TD branch at Harbor Loop. And the deposit slip to the city was short of the deposited amount.
A police report on the case did not find sufficient evidence to press criminal charges against any bank employee. But the amount of money missing was eventually confirmed by the city to be $3,100. And TD Bank, despite saying there was no conclusive evidence its employees lost or stole any city money nonetheless credited the Gloucester municipal account with the same amount — $3,100.
"Due to a lack of credible evidence, the criminal matter is considered unsubstantiated," TD Bank officials and Mayor Carolyn Kirk said in a statement of "mutual resolution" at the time. "We remain committed to working together as partners for the benefit of the community."
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