M&T Bank Temporarily Waiving Certain Customer Fees After Messy Changeover

M&T Bank is promising to waive some fees for customers frustrated with the changeover from People’s United Bank.

Bank CEO René Jones said in light of customer interruptions, M&T is waiving consumer checking and saving fees through the end of October.

Plus, the bank said it's not assessing late fees for consumer and mortgage loan payments through the end of October.

NBC Connecticut learned of this in a letter from the bank to a handful of East Coast U.S. senators who had written to the bank concerned for their constituents after the bumpy takeover.

In his letter, Jones writes to the lawmakers that he takes, “…full responsibility and apologies to customers who experienced delays and disruptions.”

He assures lawmakers of the bank’s steadfast commitment to doing right by their customers.

While he says complaints the bank received represent about 0.6% of the converted customer base as of Sept. 26, he said “we came up short for those who experienced issues.”

In addition to waiving these fees temporarily, Jones said, “Front line branch and call center personnel have also been authorized to waive other fees as appropriate.”

For example, he explains the bank would do this for customers who weren’t able to access their money during the conversion and incurred credit card, utility or other late fees.

In a statement in response to Jones' letter, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said this "is a welcome step toward making things right." He said he'll continue to monitor the situation.

Earlier this week, NBC Connecticut heard from a frustrated property manager and M&T customer.

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She said she still had limited access to bank services for her tenants since the transition.

“It has been four weeks of on the phone daily…waiting three or four hours for communication with a regular, lower-level representative who answers the phone. Says a lot about how they can’t help. Then often the phone gets disconnected, and I start over again.”

She asked us not to use her name as to not stress out her tenants about her small business’ current situation.

We reached out to M&T Bank about her complaint.

A spokesperson said they started working with the customer immediately. She said her new contacts at M&T are working to answer her concerns and questions.

Jones said M&T systems are all up and running and call centers are operating at normal levels now.