2 Bangor-area financial institutions eye upcoming expansions

PHOTO / COURTESY BANGOR SAVINGS BANK In 2023, Bangor Savings Bank opened this branch in Manchester, N.H.

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Two Greater Bangor financial institutions — Maine Savings Federal Credit Union and Bangor Savings Bank — are in expansion mode.

Maine Savings

Maine Savings Federal Credit Union, founded in 1961 and headquartered in Hampden, said it will open a new branch at 878 Stillwater Ave. in Bangor.

The credit union's 12th branch, adjacent to the entrance of a Walmart store, will be the third Maine Savings branch in Bangor.

The branch is an opportunity to connect with more members of the community, said Vanessa Madore, president and CEO of Maine Savings.

The opening date has not yet been finalized. Maine Savings is aiming for a March 2025 launch.

Maine Savings has more than 37,000 members and over 150 employees. Branches are located in Bangor, Bar Harbor at Jackson Laboratory, Brewer, Corinth, Ellsworth, Hampden, Milo, North Vassalboro, Old Town and Portland.

Maine Savings FCU was ranked No. 2 among the largest Maine-based credit unions in the 2024 Mainebiz Book of Lists, based on $697.1 million in assets as of Sept. 30, 2023.

Bangor Savings

Bangor Savings Bank, the largest Maine-based bank, has notified the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions of the bank's intent to open a branch at 46 Crystal Ave. in Derry, N.H.

If approved by the regulatory agency, the addition would be the seventh New Hampshire branch for Bangor Savings.

In 2017, New Hampshire was the site of Bangor Savings' first expansion outside of Maine, when the institution opened a loan production office in Portsmouth, N.H.

At the time, the move into New Hampshire followed a decade of strong growth in Maine’s York and Cumberland counties for the Bangor-based bank.

Since then, the bank has established additional full-service branches in the Granite State — one in Colebrook, two in Concord, one in Amherst and three in Portsmouth, just across the bridge from Kittery. A second branch in Manchester was added in early 2023.

At that time, the bank indicated its goal of openings a branch in Derry.

Bangor Savings, founded in 1852, has more than 60 branches in Maine and New Hampshire, as well as business and loan production offices in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

With nearly $7.5 billion in assets as of June 30, 2023, Bangor Savings topped the list of the largest Maine-based banks in the 2024 Mainebiz Book of Lists.