Nine Monmouth And Ocean County Banks Shutting Down

I posted about a community fixture, OceanFirst Bank deciding to close one of it's Bayville, New Jersey locations...you can read about that here.  Now, I just saw that OceanFirst Financial Corp. plans to close eight more branches in Monmouth and Ocean counties by early 2022 as a result of COVID pushing customers to online banking.

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It's a futuristic change, but one that makes sense given our world, instead of local branches where you can chat with your teller, there will be a new six story building headquartered on Hooper Avenue where almost 400 employees will work as "video tellers".  It will be a digital hub set up to serve Jersey Shore customers.

OceanFirst is the largest bank at the Jersey Shore with $11.5 billion in assets.  There are lots of customers to super-serve and this is how they feel they will best be able to do that.

The company will close 20 of its 58 branches, nine of those at the Jersey Shore.  Keep scrolling, I've listed them all for you below...

The video teller machines are the way of the future for OceanFirst.  It will allow the company to serve more locations with longer hours. You can expect tellers to be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

COVID did change society, maybe for good. People were or are still forced to work from home.  We learned to socialize, buy food, see a doctor and bank from home and we are sticking with the online model now more than ever.  Here are the local branches that are closing:

• 701 Arnold Ave., Point Pleasant Beach

• 3100 Route 88, Point Pleasant

• 791 Route 9, Berkeley

• 359 Monmouth Road, West Long Branch

• 2401 Route 71, Spring Lake Heights

• 4050 Asbury Ave., Tinton Falls

• 140 Broad St., Red Bank

• 845 W. Bay Ave., Barnegat

• 34 East Main St., Freehold