Citizens Bank to shutter more than a dozen branches, including six in New England

A Citizens Bank branch on Hanover Street in Boston, which is not among the Massachusetts branches the bank plans to close.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank will close more than a dozen branches across the country, including six in New England, a move that it says is a strategic response to how customers engage with the lender.

One of the largest employers in Rhode Island, Citizens is encouraging those whose jobs will be affected to look for openings within the company. The bank did not specify how many positions will be impacted.

In Rhode Island, one branch will close, in the Rumford section of East Providence. Four branches will close in Massachusetts: in Belmont, Hyde Park, Bellingham and Burlington. Three of the four Mass. closures are in grocery stores — the Bellingham and Hyde Park branches at Stop & Shop markets, and the Belmont branch at Belmont Star Market. In New Hampshire, one branch will cease operations, in Nashua.

Overall, 15 offices will be shuttered starting in January 2025, including half a dozen in Pennsylvania, two in Michigan and one in Ohio, the company said.

“We continually review customer patterns to evolve and adjust branch strategy across our network,” the company said in a statement shared with the Globe on Monday.

Citizens currently has 52 branches in Rhode Island, 190 in Massachusetts and 45 in New Hampshire, according to the bank.

The company said it was not abandoning its branch strategy entirely but is looking to lean into its digital banking business.

“We also remain committed [to] our branch network, with plans to add standalone branches over the next several years, in addition to continuing our investment in digital and mobile capabilities,” the bank said.

The lender said that the Massachusetts locations of Hyde Park and Bellingham will be replaced by a Citizens Virtual Assistant Experience that, along with an ATM machine, will allow customers to connect with a live virtual assistant for substantial cash withdrawals or payments, and other account activities.

Citizens Bank has been recruiting at its Johnston campus in Rhode Island, part of a move to build up its wealth management and private banking business. The lender’s Rhode Island President Keith Kelly told the Globe last month that the firm was looking to hire 50 new people before the end of 2024, in addition to the 60 that it has employed since the start of the year.

The company is looking to strengthen its growing wealth management and private banking groups in major cities across the country, Kelly said in an interview in September. “We need to shore up the support functions of the private banking and private wealth management groups. So, that’s really what’s driving the hiring.”

In June, the Rhode Island General Assembly tweaked state tax policy to help Citizens, and potentially keep the company’s headquarters in the Ocean State, a year after Massachusetts lawmakers enacted a similar change.

This story has been updated.