8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 28, 2022

BERKSHIRE HILLS BANCORP, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware	001-15781	04-3510455
(State or Other Jurisdiction) of Incorporation)	(Commission File No.)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

60 State Street, Boston, Massachusetts	02109
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (800) 773-5601

Not Applicable

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

☐
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class	Trading symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share	BHLB	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 8.01   Other Events

On March 28, 2022, Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a news release regarding its expanded partnership with the financial technology firm Narmi.

A copy of the news release, dated March 28, 2022, is included as Exhibit 99.1 to this report and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01   Financial Statements and Exhibits

(a) Financial Statements of Businesses Acquired.  Not applicable.

  

(b) Pro Forma Financial Information.  Not applicable.

(c) Shell Company Transactions.  Not applicable.

(d) Exhibits.

   Exhibit No. Description

99.1 News release dated March 28, 2022, announcing the expanded partnership with financial technology firm Narmi.

104.1 The cover page for this Current Report on Form 8-K, formatted in Inline XBRL.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.

		BERKSHIRE HILLS BANCORP, INC.
DATE: March 28, 2022	By:	/s/ Wm. Gordon Prescott
		Wm. Gordon Prescott Executive Vice President and General Counsel

EX-99.1

EXHIBIT 99.1

Berkshire Bank Expands Partnership with FinTech Narmi

Partnership will Propel Berkshire Bank to the Forefront of Digital Banking Experience

BOSTON- MARCH 28, 2022- Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB), the parent company of Berkshire Bank, a socially responsible community-dedicated bank with branch locations in New England and New York, announced that it has expanded its partnership with the leading financial technology firm Narmi, completing a major milestone in its digital plan as part of Berkshire’s Exciting Strategic Transformation (BEST). This new collaboration will propel Berkshire Bank to the forefront with an industry-leading digital banking experience for consumers and small businesses. The best-in-class solution will make banking with Berkshire Bank easier and faster, with a new mobile app and online banking site, which Berkshire expects to launch early next year.

“Our deepened engagement with Narmi, a like-minded strategic partner, to provide digital solutions to our consumer and small business clients will accelerate our journey towards becoming a high-performing, leading socially responsible community bank in New England and beyond,” stated Nitin Mhatre, Berkshire Bank CEO.  “Enhancing our customers’ experience is a key tenet of BEST and we believe partnering with Best-in-Class FinTechs is one of the most cost-effective ways for a community bank to stay competitive while delivering the exceptional digital experience our customers want.”

Berkshire’s new industry leading consumer and small business mobile app and online banking sites, powered by Narmi, will allow Berkshire customers and bankers to see the totality of a banking relationship in a single dashboard across all digital platforms. Improvements will include cutting-edge functionalities like personalization, savings tools, self-service capabilities, and apps to support seamless money transfers and financial planning.  Ultimately the new digital solutions will be one of the most significant drivers in helping Berkshire deliver on its DigiTouch^SM strategy, which makes banking available when, where and how customers want it by delivering both the invaluable human touch connection through extraordinary personal service and the convenience of user-friendly digital technology through leading FinTech partnerships. 

“Finalizing our expanded partnership with Narmi is the culmination of years of planning, countless hours of work by bankers throughout the company and is consistent with our technology roadmap,” stated Sean Gray, Chief Operating Officer of Berkshire. “Through this partnership, Berkshire Bank positions itself well to ensure its ability to keep pace with the speed of digital adoption while providing our customers with differentiated digital solutions.”

“As a forward-thinking, cloud-based FinTech, Narmi will serve as a springboard for innovation at Berkshire, as we chart a path forward towards becoming a tech-forward Community Bank,”added Sumant Pustake, Chief Transformation & Strategy Officer. “Our partnership with Narmi accelerates our BEST digitization roadmap, enhances the customer and banker experience and drives efficiencies throughout the organization.”

New York City-based Narmi builds enterprise solutions across consumer digital banking, business banking and digital account opening. Specializing in transforming financial institutions into leading digital organizations, Narmi was recently named in Bank Director’s 2021 Best of FinXTech Awards as best solution for customer experience. By working with Narmi, Berkshire cements its digital first growth strategy.

“Narmi is thrilled to partner with Berkshire – a top 150 bank – who understands that putting digital at the forefront of any growth strategy is the most important lever a financial institution has today. By adopting Narmi’s digital banking platform for businesses and consumers, we build on the success we’ve already seen with Berkshire’s digital account opening platform which is also provided by Narmi. Collectively, these digital experiences will ensure Berkshire can grow with tremendous scale for years to come, all while putting the customer first,” said Nikhil Lakhanpal, Co-Founder of Narmi.

Berkshire Bank previously worked with Narmi to upgrade its consumer online account opening experience reducing the time needed to open an account to just over two minutes. By expanding this partnership, new customers will now be able to seamlessly enter digital banking platforms within seconds after opening their account.

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ABOUT BERKSHIRE HILLS BANCORP

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent of Berkshire Bank, which is transforming what it means to bank its neighbors socially, humanly, and digitally to empower the financial potential of people, families, and businesses in its communities as it pursues its vision of being the leading socially responsible omni-channel community bank in the markets it serves. Berkshire Bank provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, wealth management, and investment services.

Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire has approximately $11.6 billion in assets and operates 105 branch offices in New England and New York, and is a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. To learn more, call 800-773-5601 or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

ABOUT NARMINarmi is a financial technology company that builds enterprise solutions across consumer digital banking, business banking and digital account opening. Financial institutions work with Narmi to be leading digital organizations, go to market faster with industry-leading functionality and better compete with Mega-Banks, Challenger Banks, and FinTech companies. With a particular focus on openness, Narmi’s open framework allows financial institutions to build their own extensions and features onto the base platform to cater to their needs. Today, Narmi powers financial institutions with billions of dollars of assets and helps move millions of dollars between financial institutions on a daily basis. To learn more about Narmi, visit: www.narmi.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You can identify these statements from the use of the words "may," "will," "should," "could," "would," "plan," "potential," "estimate," "project," "believe," "intend," "anticipate," "expect," "target" and similar expressions. There are many factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from expectations described in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of such factors, please see Berkshire's most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange

Commission and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our expectations only as of the date of this document. Berkshire does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

BERKSHIRE MEDIA CONTACT

Alicia Jacobs, AVP Public Relations Officer

Email: communications@berkshirebank.com 

BERKSHIRE INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS

Kevin Conn, SVP, Investor Relations & Corporate DevelopmentEmail: KAConn@berkshirebank.comTel: (617) 641-9206

David Gonci, Capital Markets DirectorEmail: dgonci@berkshirebank.comTel: (413) 281-1973

NARMI MEDIA CONTACT: 

Audrey Song, Product Marketingaudrey@narmi.com

XML

Document and Entity Information	Mar. 28, 2022
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 28, 2022
Entity Registrant Name	BERKSHIRE HILLS BANCORP, INC.
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity File Number	001-15781
Entity Tax Identification Number	04-3510455
Entity Address, Address Line One	60 State Street
Entity Address, City or Town	Boston
Entity Address, State or Province	MA
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	02109
City Area Code	800
Local Phone Number	773-5601
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Central Index Key	0001108134
Title of 12(b) Security	Common stock, par value $0.01 per share
Trading Symbol	BHLB
Security Exchange Name	NYSE