San Benito Bank is changing its name and the location of its
downtown branch. The bank’s parent company
– Pacific Capital Bankcorp – announced Wednesday that the
Hollister downtown branch will move from its location at 530 San
Benito St. to 650 San Benito St. at some point in the spring,
according to a statement from the company.
San Benito Bank is changing its name and the location of its downtown branch.
The bank’s parent company – Pacific Capital Bankcorp – announced Wednesday that the Hollister downtown branch will move from its location at 530 San Benito St. to 650 San Benito St. at some point in the spring, according to a statement from the company.
That move comes eight months after the Santa Barbara-based parent company was acquired by Ford Financial Fund, a private equity firm operated by billionaire Gerald Ford, according to Securities Exchange Commission filings released in May and the Wall Street Journal.
Local branches include the San Benito Bank branches in Hollister and San Juan Bautista, the South Valley National Bank branch in Gilroy and two South Valley National Bank branches in Morgan Hill.
All bank names will be changed, said George S. Leis, President & Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Capital Bancorp. There is no time frame for the name change for banks not under the San Bernardino label.
Leis said the employees and customers he talked to were excited about the change.
“We talked a lot about that,” Leis said. “We heard there was some confusion. Customers traveling up and down (Hioghway) 101 didn’t know they could use our other branches.”
He went on: “As it relates to the culture of our company, everything stays the same.”
According to Pacific Capital Bankcorp’s announcement Wednesday:
“Pacific Capital Bancorp (Nasdaq: PCBCD), announced today that it plans to relocate its Hollister Downtown Branch from 530 San Benito Street to 650 San Benito Street in the spring. In conjunction with the branch move, the Company announced that it would take this opportunity to begin the consolidation of its bank names into its oldest brand, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.
Pacific Capital Bancorp, with $6.3 billion in assets, is the parent company of Pacific Capital Bank, N.A., a nationally chartered bank that operates 47 branches in eight California counties under the local brand names of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, First National Bank of Central California, South Valley National Bank, San Benito Bank and First Bank of San Luis Obispo.
“We are pleased to have identified a great office suite for our Hollister Downtown Branch less than two blocks away from our current location. We have carefully selected this prime location to provide our customers with a more convenient and welcoming banking experience,” said George S. Leis, President & Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Capital Bancorp. “Our new site is larger, with better parking and an ideal spot for our ATM machine. We are underway now with renovations and upgrades at the new site, and we expect to open for business there in the spring. There will be no interruption in service or any cost incurred by customers as a result of the move.”
The Company also announced that it will take this opportunity to begin the consolidation of its local bank names into the single brand Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (“SBB&T”). In the spring, three branches that have operated under the brand name San Benito Bank will begin operations under the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust name. Those branches are Hollister Downtown (at its new location); Hollister Main at 300 Tres Pinos Road; and San Juan Bautista at 301 Third Street in San Juan Bautista.
“We are very excited to be taking this important step to more closely align the various brand names that we have operated under the Pacific Capital umbrella,” said Leis. “Simplifying our operations under a single, well recognized and highly respected brand confirms our plan to manage our entire community bank under the consistent business practices that we believe will ensure our success. We will be working as one team and towards one goal. And that goal is to provide value to our customers, our shareholders, our community partners, and our employees.”
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