PeoplesBank applies to open branch at Luther Acres

The York County-based bank filed for approval Oct. 28 to open a branch at Luther Acres at 600 E. Main St. in Lititz, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.

The branch, if approved, would be PeoplesBank’s third new retirement community location. Just last month, it applied to open branches at Landis Homes in Manheim Township and Woodcrest Villa in East Hempfield Township.

PNC served all three of these communities until this fall, when it announced eight branch closures in central Pennsylvania. That included the locations at Landis Homes, Luther Acres and Woodcrest Villa, which closed Oct. 21.

The branches at Landis Homes and Woodcrest Villa could open as soon as mid-December or early January, officials from those communities said last month.

The PeoplesBank at Luther Acres is expected to open around the end of January, said Sally Groome, the community’s vice president for marketing and communications.

An official from PeoplesBank could not be reached for comment Monday. The bank declined to comment last month on the Landis Homes and Woodcrest Villa branches until it received regulatory approval.

Luther Acres has had a bank on-site for about 10 years, Groome said. Residents appreciate the ability to talk to a teller in-person, as well as the convenience of not having to arrange transportation to an off-site branch.

Groome praised PeoplesBank’s commitment to the retirement communities where they have recently expressed interest in filling banking voids. Some staff members, she said, have even discussed switching to PeoplesBank solely because of its attention to these communities.

In addition to the planned branches at Landis Homes, Woodcrest Villa and Luther Acres, the bank also has limited service facilities at seven other retirement communities, mostly in York County, according to its website. PeoplesBank sends a representative to these sites each week to process transactions and answer questions.

Residents at Luther Acres are looking forward to having a bank in their community again.

“They are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to get to know PeoplesBank,” Groome said. “And we as organizational leadership are thrilled to create this relationship.”