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M&T Bank wants to be the bank for all communities. Toward that end, the institution has 118 designated banking centers across its footprint catering specifically to the needs of ethnically and racially diverse communities.

And on Jan. 13, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based bank announced that 18 of its New Jersey branches are now designated as multicultural banking centers.

The locations are equipped to help customers in their preferred languages, either from bilingual employees or through the bank’s translation assistance platform. They also employ bankers from the communities that they serve.

M&T  already had three multicultural banking centers in operation in the Garden State: in North Bergen, Fort Lee and Teaneck.

“As this nationwide demographic shift accelerates, our multicultural banking initiative will help us meet the changing needs of our communities,” said Tom Comiskey, M&T Bank‘s regional president for New Jersey. “With our recent designation of new multicultural banking centers, we are demonstrating our clear intention to be the bank for all communities.”

The centers will also hold networking events, financial literary classes and collaborate on community projects.

M&T Bank’s new N.J. multicultural banking centers:

• Bayonne branch: 547 Broadway, Bayonne
• Bayview branch: 532 Ocean Ave., Jersey City
• Cliffside Park branch: 680 Anderson Ave. #684, Cliffside Park
• Cresskill branch: 80 Union Ave., Cresskill
• Fifth Ward branch: 495 Manila Ave., Jersey City
• Henry Street branch: 313 Henry St., Orange
• Hoboken branch: 1018 Washington St., Hoboken
• Jersey City branch: 2530 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City
• Kendall Park branch: 3562 Route 27 Suite 130, Kendall Park
• Lodi branch: 304 Essex St., Lodi
• Mount Vernon branch: 72 Mount Vernon Place, Newark
• New Milford branch: 715 River Road, New Milford
• North Brunswick branch: 523 Shoppes Blvd., North Brunswick
• Orange branch: 288 Main St., Orange
• Park Place branch: 60 Park Place, Newark
• Paterson branch: 162 Main St., Paterson
• Summit branch: 341 Springfield Ave., Summit
• Union branch: 365 Tucker Ave., Union

M&T recently launched a Spanish-language website and updated its ATM network to provide services in Chinese and Korean; it offers phone assistance in 240 languages.