Although 1 out of 3 UK banks close, American banks don’t seem to face many changes
How many UK and US bank branches close. Source: shutterstock.com
More than 1 out of 3 banks across the UK have closed over the last 4 years, LearnBonds says. Tha’s over 3,300 branches or 34% of the national network. For instance, Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed to close 31 Lloyds Bank branches, 10 Halifax sites, and 15 Bank of Scotland outlets by October 2020.
Besides, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) cut 52% of its outlets in just 2 years and shut 74% of its network over 4 years.
In comparison to that, Metro Bank is the group opening the most branches over the last 2 years. It created 17 new branches, expanding its network to 62 in total.
Meanwhile, America’s branch network hasn’t changed radically. Such American retail banks as Wells Fargo, Capital One, Bank of America closed only 4% of their outlets in 2019.
The research says in June 2019, there were 80,375 commercial bank branches in the US, insured by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Over the last decade, US big banks have closed 7,681 outlets or 9% of its branches.
The US retailers and banks expressed unwillingness to adopt new technology because it requires upgrades or replacements. The UK bank branch network has been declining that for almost 30 years with the rise of telephone banking weakening branch networks before digital.
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