SouthState Bank branch in downtown Aiken has closed permanently

Dede Biles, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·1 min read

Sep. 1—The SouthState Bank branch at 149 Laurens St. N.W. in downtown Aiken has closed and won't reopen.

The shutdown is part of the financial institution's plan to reduce the number of its brick-and-mortar locations.

In May, SouthState Corporation announced that 30 branches would be closed as a result of the consolidation — 16 in Florida, six in South Carolina, five in Georgia, two in North Carolina and one in Virginia.

In addition to Aiken, the branches in the Palmetto State scheduled for closure during the third quarter of this year were located in Charleston, North Charleston Elloree, Okatie and Winnsboro.

According to a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the reasons for the consolidation included "the changing foot traffic and customer practices in the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Also a factor was an assessment that the communities in the markets impacted could "be served by remaining branch locations located there."

The filing further stated that the expected cost associated with the branch closures would be approximately $8 million, which primarily included expenses for personnel, facilities and equipment.

The estimate for the "net annual savings" in 2023 because of the consolidation was $10 million.

SouthState Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida. SouthState Bank is the company's nationally chartered bank subsidiary.

There are SouthState Bank branches in Aiken County at 1001 Pine Log Road in Aiken and 336 Georgia Avenue in North Augusta.