Branch ‘Deserts’ a Myth in the US

The Banking Journal of the American Bankers Association (ABA) published an article ‘The Real Story On Bank Branch Closures’, about the decline in bank branches in the US. It was responding to a story in NPR that painted a picture of bank closures leaving whole communities devoid of bank branches, particularly in lower-income, rural and at-risk communities.

The ABA tells an interesting story of what has actually happened, including data and an initiative to reduce the number of unbanked Americans.

Branch closures

Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence reported 3,324 branches closed last year in the US and 1,000 opened, leaving 85,000 in place. Bank branches can close for a variety of reasons – for example industry consolidation, lack of demand, increased use of mobile and online banking. In reality, most closures have been in upperand middle-income areas (76%) and in saturated urban markets (94%).