Capital One bids farewell to Island
The Capital One bank building on West Neck Road.
Capital One closed its Shelter Island office November 18, ending its long association here when the branch belonged to North Fork Bank, which was subsequently sold to Capital One.
Many of the workers at the Island branch on West Neck Road were able to find jobs at other Capital One branches on the North and South forks, according to corporate spokespeople.
With the increase in use of ATM machines and online and mobile banking by customers, corporate bank officials said they believe they can handle their customers’ accounts without any difficulty. On the occasions when they need to visit a bank, there are branches open on both the North and South forks.
Capital One’s cutback on its branches is part of what has been a worldwide trend over the past several years. The Economist magazine reported that since the financial crisis of 2008 and the growth of online banking, more than 10,000 bank branches have closed.
With the departure of Capital One from Shelter Island, there are two banks left, Chase and Bridgehampton National Bank, both in the Center.
There will be no changes to customers’ accounts or their account numbers, Captial One spokeswoman Pam Girardo said.
Since the announcement of the Island branch closing in August, some staff members have been transferred to other branches and others were offered opportunities to work in nearby branches, Ms. Girardo said.
In September, bank spokeswoman Amanda Lander said she expected only two current employees were likely to take severance packages rather than relocate, but declined to say how many people worked at the Shelter Island branch. She noted the severance packages would include retraining assistance and outplacement services.
Ms. Lander said on November 18 that the bank won’t be disclosing any information on how many employees were transferred to other branches and how many took a severance package.
“Associate matters are confidential,” she said.
The building on West Neck Road is for sale and Ms. Lander confirmed that the corporation has hired a single company to handle sales of the buildings being closed.
