KeyCorp is closing its former KeyBank branch in downtown Everett and consolidating all its business with the former EverTrust main branch at 2707 Colby Ave.
The move comes as Key wraps up the conversion of the former EverTrust Financial Group branches into KeyBank banking outlets. Key announced Monday that the conversion had been completed.
“All of the books balanced,” said Jim Peoples, the president of Key’s Seattle-Cascade district. “The transition went about as smooth as it possibly could.”
The conversion was the last step in Key’s purchase of Everett-based EverTrust. The Ohio-based banking giant paid $194.7 million to buy the bank, in a deal that closed Oct. 15.
The deal makes Key the fourth-largest bank in Snohomish County, in terms of deposits. The combined bank has 16 branches in the county, which it has targeted as a growth area.
Key wants to “really grow our presence with these stores being the platform,” Peoples said.
EverTrust had “good people, good stores, good locations,” which now have been “married up to products … we think are second to none,” he said.
Key will close two of EverTrust’s 14 former branches and loan offices, one in downtown Seattle and the other in Bellevue.
Key offered jobs to about 125 of the 160 EverTrust employees, People said. A number of top executives left, and not all of those offered jobs took them, but “we had some pretty good success in mapping people over,” he said.
Much of the conversion work was completed when the banks were closed last Thursday for Veterans Day, Peoples said. It involved transferring all the balances in EverTrust accounts to similar KeyBank accounts.
New checks, credit cards and automatic teller machine cards had been sent to customers previously, along with information about the transition, he said.
The only glitch involved a computer modem in one branch that was located too close to the furnace in the building, Peoples said. Whenever the furnace’s fan came on, it rebooted the modem.
A smooth transition was an important part of Key’s efforts to retain EverTrust’s customers, Peoples said.
It’s too early to tell whether Key has been successful, but “we think we’ll do very well because the transition went smoothly,” he said. “Over time we’ll know more.”
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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