Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citizens, PNC and Santander announce further 31 branch closures in just one week – is YOURS affected?

American banks filed to close 31 branches in a single week this month, with Wells Fargo and PNC accounting for more than half.

Each of the two banks said they would shut eight branches, across Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Connecticut, North Dakota and New Jersey.

Texas was worse hit, with closures set for Houston, Laredo and Cypress.

Other banks to have announced they would shutter locations between February 11 and 17 include Bank of America, Santander, Chase, Citizens, KeyBank and Legacy.

Despite scheduling a closure, Chase has bucked the trend by opening more branches than it closed in recent years.

PNC reported between January 11 and January 17 that it would close eight branches. Pictured is a PNC branch in Chicago, Illinois

Last month, Chase said it would pursue a different strategy from other major US banks by opening 500 locations in the next three years.

Of the 15 total openings banks reported to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – which regulates banks – five were made by Chase.

Two were in California and there was one in Georgia, Maryland and Minnesota.

Dozens of banks filed notices to close a total of 1,566 branches last year according to data from the OCC. In contrast, they only notified the regulator of plans to open 472.

The last time the number of commercial bank branches in the US increased was in 2011 when there were more than 85,000, according to FDIC data.

Since then the number of physical branches has dropped fairly steadily to about 70,000.

Other banks to have filed to open branches this month include Huntington (4), Bank of America (2), Chino Commercial Bank, Fifth Third, Llano Bank in Texas and Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo has been a front-runner in the closure of costly brick-and-mortar banking locations across the country.

Huntington notified the OCC that it would open four branches – 

Wells Fargo led the charge in 2023, filing to close 312 branches. Chase filed to open more than 40 percent of the total 472 reported by all banks across the year

It filed to close 312 branches last year. Wells Fargo filed to close 15 branches in one week alone in November.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, the OCC said: ‘The OCC understands the importance of bank branches and is committed to supporting access to banking services in all communities.’

The watchdog also noted that although banks and credit unions need to notify the ‘primary regulator of closures’, the statute that requires them to do so does not allow the regulator to object.