The company was founded in 1842 as Bridgeport Savings Bank in
Bridgeport, Connecticut. After acquiring People's Bank of Vernon, CT, in 1983, the company was renamed People's Bank. The company moved to a new headquarters building designed by
Richard Meier in 1989. In February 2008, a data storage company, Archive America, lost backup tapes in transit containing the "names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and other information" of customers of the bank and of
The Bank of New York Mellon. On November 22, 2010, the bank opened its first location in
Boston. People's United was notably selected to manage the core bank accounts for the
Commonwealth of
Massachusetts in November 2016, and was also selected to manage the core bank accounts for the state of
Vermont in August 2017. On February 22, 2021,
M&T Bank, based in
Buffalo, New York, announced an agreement to acquire People's United Bank in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $7.6 billion.
Acquisition history From its founding as Bridgeport Savings Bank to the present, People's United has acquired several banks and other financial institutions in New England including:
20th century • 1955: acquired Southport Savings Bank • 1991: acquired the deposits of Hartford-based Landmark Bank
21st century • January 1, 2008: acquired
Chittenden Corporation for $1.9 billion Also in 2008, the bank acquired Ocean Bank of New Hampshire, Maine Bank & Trust,
Merrill Merchants Bank, Flagship Bank, and Bank of Western Massachusetts. • February 2010: acquired Financial Federal Corporation, an equipment financing company • April 2010: acquired Butler Bank, which was seized by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation • December 2010: acquired LSB Corporation and Smithtown Bancorp • July 2011: acquired Danvers Bancorp • 2012: acquired 57 branches in the greater New York metro area from
Royal Bank of Scotland, including 53 branches in
Stop & Shop supermarkets • October 2015: People's United subsidiary acquired Kesten-Brown Insurance • April 2017: acquired Suffolk Bancorp • July 2017: acquired LEAF Commercial Capital • June 2018: People's United Bank agreed to purchase
Farmington Bank in a deal valued at $544 million • November 2019: acquired Connecticut-based
United Financial Bancorp. == Headquarters ==