Bank of America, Chase and Woodforest are among banks closing 51 branches in just three weeks – is YOURS affected?

U.S. banks closed 51 branches nationwide in the first three weeks of June.

The figures suggest that banks are committed to increasingly offering their services online and eliminating costly physical locations.

More than 400 bank branches have closed so far in 2024.

In the weeks of June 2-23, Woodforest National Bank closed the largest number of branches: 29 in total in states such as Ohio, New York and Virginia.

Bank of America also closed nine branches in the same period.

Santander, Fulton Bank and Dream First Bank were also among those announcing closures.

New York was the most affected state with eight closures in locations in Manhattan, Albany and Jefferson.

In the same three weeks in June, another 32 bank branches opened, leaving a net total of nineteen closures.

JP Morgan Chase led the opening task and filed notices for thirteen new branches with the federal regulator.

Each week, banks must report branch openings and closings to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The last year in which the number of branches in the US increased was 2011, when there were more than 85,000 across the US, according to FDIC data. Since then, the number has steadily decreased to about 70,000.

Most national banks such as US Bank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are increasingly confident that online banking can meet the needs of most customers.

Closures can generate significant savings. The average independent branch costs $2.6 million a year to operate, according to Bancography, an Alabama-based consulting firm that advises banks.

Steven Reider, founder and president of Bancography, previously told DailyMail.com that “banks are willing to close a branch that doesn’t actually overlap any other branches in the bet that customers will be willing to go a little further.” “.

“I think Bank of America has leaned into that more than the other big banks,” he added.

Reider also noted that Bank of America’s history of mergers has meant that it ended up with branches in rural locations; however, the industry is undergoing “a rural-to-urban conversion.”

“Every census since 1910 has shown a higher proportion of Americans living in urban areas than the previous census, so as we become an increasingly urbanized country, demand in these legacy rural markets simply fades,” said.

Ultimately, banks are looking to consolidate the markets they are already in, and that means focusing more on dominating a handful of cities.

JP Morgan Chase led the opening campaign and presented an advertisement for thirteen new branches

For example, Chase is moving strongly toward Kansas City, Fifth Third is making similar moves toward Charlotte, and PNC is targeting Austin.

Although the number of bank branch closures began to increase during the 2010s, it was exacerbated by the pandemic, which kept people at home.

In 2023, more than 1,500 bank branches closed permanently, with California and the Midwest hardest hit.

Check out the charts below for the latest closings and links to all of this year’s weekly announcements.