I know there are many branch managers with fewer than 7 direct reports. Will these branches close? How about the service managers roles, will they be impacted? Are their roles going to be eliminated just as they were at U.S Bank? I understand the bank is trying to go digital, but you still have many branches around the country. Are they planing on pulling out of some states? Didn’t they pull out of three Midwestern states a couple years ago?
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Retail banking has been changing for years with consumers increasingly using technology (apps, online, atm, zelle) as well as direct deposit for paychecks and debit / credit cards used for purchases. All of these trends have resulted in a decreased use of checks and cash and the need to frequent physical bank branches to manage finances. In addition, Covid forced many consumers to embrace the new technologies and change their habits of using in person banking.
What bank branches close will be the result of optimizing locations of the remaining branches to be smaller requiring less staff while still providing geographic coverage.
If you look at the competition, their new branches are much smaller in size and are staffed with fewer people than the old school branches. A Regional president said in 2016, change was inevitable at Wells as branch staffing and size was driven by the sales goals that pushed the need for constant referrals to personal bankers for things that could have been resolved online, over the phone or even by a teller.
First, branch closings don’t happen overnight. They have to be essentially approved by the OCC for all kinds of considerations such as LMI service, redlining etc. There are also leases and loans on buildings that have to be considered, and even building condition. The bank might identify a particular branch will close, but it could take 2 years or more to exit. So yes, sometimes money is spent on a closing location.
Second, just because a branch closes doesn’t mean everyone there is laid off. In areas where branches are close, a location that is closing might send some or all of the staff to the other branch support customer volume that is losing their branch. It’s not a peanut butter. In reality, it’s the corporate functions that are insanely over staffed and huge amounts of cuts will come from that.
I just don’t understand! They are making all these new changes at Bank.Branches but yet they are going to close branches? Aren’t they wasting $$$$ by making changes and then closing the branches? I’m so confused. What about the Covid-19 high risk team members who currently aren’t back at work but they’re still paying them? What’s going to happen to them? Are the layoffs already predetermined? There’s just so
Many unanswered questions??
In addition to the direct branch staff, you have the reduction in support and supervisory staff that will occur. So while each branch may have 10-15 people, the actual number of people displaced will be higher when closing 1400 locations.
Remember in reaching the $10 Billion per year expense reduction goal, there is the cost of the physical branch including rent, taxes, maintenance, utilities and insurance that will be cut with each closing.
Per the various news articles, they are going to close approx 1,400 branches. How many people work at a branch? 10? Thats 14,000 employees right there.