Banks Reopen More Eastern Branches; Progress Tougher in NYC

Operations began to return to normal for several large banks on Wednesday in areas hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has reopened 587 branches in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, it said. Those are roughly 55% of its branches in the Tri-State area. Nearly 60% of its 3,200 area ATMs were running, the company said.

Bank of America (BAC) said Wednesday that it has reopened 75% of its branches in the Northeast. Branches are fully functioning in nine states in addition to the District of Columbia and upstate New York. It also has 13 branches open in Manhattan with plans to open several more Thursday. The Charlotte, N.C., company has deployed mobile ATMs to lower Manhattan and plans to have them running Wednesday night.

HSBC (HBC) has reopened 101 of its 189 affected branches, including all of its locations in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, the company said. It had opened select branches in the New York City area, Connecticut and New Jersey and will open more when power is restored and it is safe to do so. HSBC was also monitoring its ATM network and working to ensure it was functioning.

Wells Fargo (WFC) said that all of its branches in Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia were reopened while 139 of its 610 branches in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania remained closed.

Many big banks had closed their branches and offices in the Northeast on Monday and Tuesday to deal with the effects of Hurricane Sandy. The storm caused extensive flooding and power outages in the region.

Citigroup said Wednesday that it would waive fees for things like overdraft protection and late payments for customers in areas affected by the hurricane. Several other banks have announced similar steps.