The massacre in the bank branch continues! Major companies will cut up to 20 locations in a single state this summer
- Capital One, Citizens Bank, JPMorgan Chase and others are closing locations in upstate New York
- Due to the decrease in the number of branches, customers have to travel further to the nearest bank
- Personal services provide a lifeline for customers who want to speak to an advisor, access cash, or deposit a check
Major banks will close up to 20 branches in one state this summer as companies push digital banking services.
New York residents will see Capital One, Citizens Bank and JPMorgan Chase shut down for the next three months, making it more difficult for customers to access basic banking services.
Bank of America, Community Bank, KeyBank, Santander Bank and Wells Fargo will also reportedly close stores, according to NewsBreak.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is issuing a bulletin of banks about to close, it reports, 19 of which will close in the Empire State in June, July and August this year.
The declining number of bank branches means customers have to travel further to the nearest bank, leaving vulnerable and elderly people without a financial lifeline.
JPMorgan Chase will have five New York branches this summer – most of the major banks
Citizens Bank reportedly plans to close four New York branches in June amid widespread closures
JPMorgan Chase will close most New York locations this summer at 5 p.m., while Citizens Bank is closing four.
It comes after JPMorgan announced earlier this month that it would cut a quarter of First Republic’s locations after acquiring the bankrupt company earlier this year.
In a statement to CNN, the banking giant said, “These locations have relatively low transaction volumes and are generally within a short drive of another First Republic office.
“Customers should expect to continue to receive the same level of service with seamless access to their money.”
JPMorgan agreed to buy First Republic’s assets last month following the government’s seizure of the regional bank. The first task was to downsize the company, including by cutting staff.
First Republic’s demise marked the second largest bank failure in US history, following in the footsteps of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Community Bank will close three New York branches in August
Wells Fargo and Bank of America are both closing a New York branch this summer
The number of bank closures in the US rose to an all-time high in 2021 – with 2,927 branches closing their doors according to the latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence data. This trend is expected to continue.
Wells Fargo & Co. reported the most net closures in 2021 with 267, followed closely by US Bancorp with 257 net closures. Huntington Bancshares Inc. reduced the footprint of its sites by more than 16 percent.
The five states worst affected were California, with 269 branch closures; Michigan, with 247; New York, with 221; Florida, with 192; and Illinois, with 153.
US banks have been steadily automating financial services for years, but the change has been accelerated by the pandemic.
Concerns over Covid-19 transmission have discouraged households from exchanging cash and encouraged them to use digital payment apps such as Venmo and Block Inc.’s Cash App.
A Federal Reserve study showed a 12.4 percent increase in digital transactions in the first quarter of 2020 over the second.
According to figures from research organization Euromonitor International, the number of ATMs in the US has fallen from 470,000 in 2019 to 451,500 at the end of 2022.