Bank will close three branches in Bay

PANAMA CIY — Hancock Bank will close three branches in Bay County and two others in Northwest Florida by the end of July.

The three locations in Bay County — at 607 S. Tyndall Parkway (U.S. 98) in Callaway, 1038 Harrison Ave. in Panama City, and 1302 Ohio Ave. (State 77) in Lynn Haven — will close July 25, according to R. Paul Maxwell, corporate communications director for Mississippi-based Hancock Bank. The other two Northwest Florida branches scheduled to close are in Fort Walton Beach and Shalimar.

The bank, which took over Panama City-based Peoples First Community Bank when it failed in December 2009, will continue to operate two branches in Bay County, one on State 77 at 23rd Street in Panama City and the other near Edgewater Beach Resort in Panama City Beach.

Maxwell said the company does not plan to leave the Bay County market.

“Bay County is very important to our company from a strategic growth perspective,” Maxwell said. “We do not plan to exit the greater Bay County market.”

The bank also has a regional office on 23rd Street in Panama City with an ATM. Hancock’s office in Marianna also will remain open.

Bank officials had announced plans earlier this year to close 16 branches in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana this summer. Hancock Bank wouldn’t confirm which locations would close until the bank sent notification letters to customers of the affected branches.

“The consolidations are part of our ongoing branch rationalization process,” Maxwell wrote in an email. “Common among all banks, branch rationalization is a continuous review of many different factors about where and how clients transact business in various markets — at branches, ATMs, or via mobile and online banking. While a location may be closing, clients can still do business using those technology options.”

Maxwell wrote that Hancock Bank is working with each affected employee based on their position and circumstances. He stated some may transition to other local branches, while others will have an opportunity to apply for current and future jobs both locally and in other areas.

Hancock currently has more than 200 Hancock and Whitney banking locations across a five-state Gulf South corridor from Houston to Tampa.