By Tilly Armstrong Consumer Reporter For Dailymail.Com
20:36 09 Jun 2023, updated 20:36 09 Jun 2023
- Capital One, Citizens Bank, JPMorgan Chase and others will shutter locations in New York state
- The decline in the number of branches mean customers have to travel further to their nearest bank
- In-person services provide a lifeline for customers looking to speak to an advisor, access cash or deposit a check
Major banks are set to axe up to 20 branches in a single state this summer, as companies push digital banking services.
New York residents will see Capital One, Citizens Bank and JPMorgan Chase close their doors in 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 shutter outlets, according to NewsBreak.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) releases a bulletin of banks set to close, it reports, with 19 set to shut in the Empire State in June, July and August this year.
Dwindling numbers of bank branches mean customers have to travel further to their nearest bank – leaving vulnerable and elderly people without a financial lifeline.
JPMorgan Chase is set to close the most locations in New York this summer, at five, while Citizens Bank will axe four.
It comes after JPMorgan announced earlier this month that it was axing a quarter of First Republic locations after it took over the failed firm 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 from another First Republic office.
‘Clients 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 regional bank’s seizure by the Government. Its first job has been to slim down the firm, including by cutting workers.
First Republic’s downfall marked the second-biggest banking failure in US history after it followed in the footsteps of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Bank closures across the US increased to a historic 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 at 267, followed closely by U.S. Bancorp with 257 net closures. Huntington Bancshares Inc. shrunk its branch footprint by more than 16 percent.
The five states that were hit the hardest were California, with 269 branch closures; Michigan, with 247; New York, with 221; Florida, with 192; and Illinois, with 153.
American banks have been steadily automating financial services for years but the change was sped up by the pandemic.
Anxiety about transmitting Covid-19 deterred households from exchanging cash and encouraged them to use digital payment apps such as Venmo and Block Inc.’s Cash App.
A study by the Federal Reserve showed a 12.4 percent jump in digital transactions in the first quarter of 2020 to the second.
According to figures from research body Euromonitor International, the number of cash machines in the US fell from 470,000 in 2019 to 451,500 at the end of 2022.
