At least 273 bank locations closed across the United States in May, while 46 opened that month.
Many major banks have announced that they’re closing down branches in 2023, as more and more customers are making deposits via their phones or to keep tabs on their balances, all without leaving their homes.
Others still rely on physical bank branches to do to the bulk of their transactions, and these closures will affect how many conduct their financial affairs.Bank Branch Closures Spike in 2023
There were 227 net closings last month, up from 79 in April and the trailing-12-month average of 132, according to a June 30 report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
U.S.-based banks had a total of 78,121 active branches nationwide at the end of May.
U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank NA, led the way in bank closures, as the lender shuttered the largest number of active branches in the country in May with 133 closings, all in California, and no openings.
The Minneapolis-based lender increased the pace of branch closings again, after slowing down in the months before it completed its acquisition of San Francisco-based MUFG Union Bank NA in December last year.
Over the past 12 months, the bank has closed 194 branches and opened only seven new locations, according to data from S&P Global.
U.S. Bancorp consolidated dozens of branches while it transferred Union Bank customers to its own systems, Jeff Shelman, senior vice president and head of enterprise external communications for U.S. Bank, told S&P Global.
“Both Union Bank customers and U.S. Bank customers have gained access to branch and fee-free ATM locations through the consolidation,” Shelman wrote in an emailed statement.
“Of the branches that were consolidated, more than [50 percent] were located within a half mile of another branch and [80 percent] were within a mile of another branch.”
