Rockland Trust Arrives In Boston, Welcomes Peoples Federal Savings Customers

 
Rockland, MA – February 23, 2015 – This morning Rockland Trust welcomed Peoples Federal Savings customers as it expanded its presence in Greater Boston with the addition of Peoples Federal Savings Bank branches. Joining the Rockland Trust family were eight former Peoples branches in the Boston neighborhoods of Allston, Brighton, West Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain along with Brookline, Norwood, West Newton and Westwood. Rockland Trust completed the conversion of the branches this weekend following the acquisition of Peoples Federal Savings. The eight branches join Rockland Trust’s investment management and commercial lending office, which opened in 2013 at 101 Arch Street in Boston’s Financial District.

To provide a seamless banking experience, the same branch managers and staff will continue to serve Peoples customers. In addition, customers will have access to Rockland Trust’s state of the art mobile banking for consumers and businesses, including: the ability to deposit checks with a smartphone or tablet; a suite of business banking services including free business checking; commercial lending capacity of up to $103 million per qualified business client; and a full range of investment products, including investment management and trust capabilities.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new customers to Rockland Trust. We were founded 107 years ago on a pledge of providing exemplary customer service to our customers, communities, and colleagues,” said Christopher Oddleifson, President and CEO of Rockland Trust. “We look forward to becoming a trusted partner in these neighborhoods. Giving back is a vital part of our culture and we’re excited about working with our new neighbors to support these communities.”

Much like Peoples Federal Savings Bank, Rockland Trust has a 100+ year heritage of commitment to communities in Eastern Massachusetts and provides charitable grants to local organizations dedicated to the well-being of those communities. Both banks have supported many of the same areas of need, including affordable housing, education, youth programs, and general community improvement. Rockland Trust provides additional support through RockCorp (Rockland Trust Community Outreach Program), the bank's employee-based volunteer group which provides hands-on volunteer assistance to non-profit organizations within the Rockland Trust footprint. In recognition of its community support, Rockland Trust was named one of the Boston Business Journal’s Top Charitable Contributors in 2014.

For added convenience each branch will be outfitted with Rockland Trust “Smart” ATMs which allow checks or cash to be deposited directly into the machine without envelopes or deposit slips. Instant issue debit cards will also be available at select locations. This benefit enables customers to obtain a new debit card when opening a checking account at the branch or a new card to replace a lost or stolen card.

Rockland Trust also welcomes two senior leaders at Peoples Federal Savings Bank to their Executive Team. Jim Gavin, Chief Lending Officer at Peoples, is now Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending at Rockland Trust while Christopher Lake, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Peoples, is now Senior Vice President and Director of Enterprise Risk Management at Rockland Trust.

Rockland Trust was rated as one of America's Best Banks on Forbes' list of America's Best and Worst Banks in 2014 for the fourth consecutive year. Also in 2014, Rockland Trust was named one of the “Top Places to Work” by The Boston Globe for a sixth consecutive year, and was ranked the fourth best place to work among the largest employers – the top ranked bank in that category.

Recognized as a leading bank for businesses in Massachusetts, Rockland Trust was named the Top Commercial Real Estate Lender by The Warren Group in 2014 and once again was one of the most active lenders of United States Small Business Administration (SBA) loans in Massachusetts. In fact, during 2014, Rockland was the second largest SBA lender in the state in terms of both the number of loans made and the total amount of dollars lent.

With nearly $2.5 billion in assets under management, Rockland Trust is one of the 25 largest independent investment advisers in Massachusetts1. The Bank’s Investment Management Group provides customers with wealth management strategies, such as financial planning and retirement services through five investment offices in Attleboro, Boston, Hanover, Osterville, and Providence, RI.

Independent Bank Corp, parent of Rockland Trust, announced the acquisition of Peoples Federal Bancshares on August 5, 2014 and completed the transaction on February 20, 2015.

ABOUT INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.

As of the closing of the Peoples Federal acquisition Independent Bank Corp. has about $7.0 billion in assets. Independent is the holding company for Rockland Trust Company, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Massachusetts. Rockland Trust offers a wide range of banking, investment, and insurance services to businesses and individuals through retail branches, commercial lending offices, investment management offices, and residential lending centers located in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as through telephone banking, mobile banking, and the Internet. Rockland Trust, which was named to Sandler 2014 Sm-All Stars list of top performing small-cap banks and thrifts in the country, is an FDIC Member and an Equal Housing Lender. To find out why Rockland Trust is the bank “Where Each Relationship Matters ®”, please visit https://www.rocklandtrust.com.