Southern N.H. Bank to change name

Salem-based Southern New Hampshire Bank and Trust will be changing its name to Bank of New England – a name that may seem familiar to the region’s bank customers.

The locally owned and privately held financial institution was founded some 11 years ago and now serves customers throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island. Bank executives are confident the new name will better characterize this growing service area, said CEO Paul Finn.

He said the name Bank of New England “better represents our expanding market place while keeping our local roots,” Finn said. “Over the last five years our bank’s asset and deposit growth rates have exceeded our peer group by 100 percent, and our statistical ratios place us at the top of nearly every material measurement of bank performance. We want to continue these trends and this rebranding will assist us in achieving our goals.”

According to the bank’s president, Bill Stone, the name change is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter and will have no impact on existing customers.

The original Bank of New England received its name in 1982, when New England Merchants Company Inc. adopted the brand. It ceased to be in 1991, when it was acquired by the then-Fleet/Norstar Financial Group.

Southern New Hampshire Bank and Trust was founded in 1985 by a group of local investors led by bank chairman Bill DeLuca.