It hasn’t been a great time to own a brick-and-mortar business. After Covid forced everyone indoors, accelerating the shift online, most of these businesses have struggled with declining foot traffic and demand.
The struggles faced by once popular locations have been compounded by sticky inflation, which has crimped consumers’ budgets, and an increasingly lackluster jobs market.
The combination has led many retailers to shut their doors, but it’s not just retail stores that have belt the pain. Banks have also been in the cross-hairs as they wrestle with thousands of legacy physical branches.
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Growing adoption of online banking, including apps, and new competition from fintech upstarts encroaching on their turf has caused banks to rethink their branch strategy, prompting branch closures and reimagining of remaining locations.Â
Smaller community banks have been particularly pressured, but larger regional banks haven’t been unscathed.Â
Regional banks are under pressure to close locations as demand shifts online.
The banking industry undergoes an overhaul
The internet has reshaped retail and created a massive change in how banks do business.
It used to require a branch teller to make deposits, and withdrawing funds often meant a trip in the car to the closest ATM. Similarly, getting a small business, mortgage, or auto loan meant sitting down with a loan officer.Â
Related: Major national bank closing dozens of branches (locations revealed)
That’s no longer true.
Most people automatically have their paychecks deposited into their accounts via direct deposit, and increasingly, few people carry cash at a time when apps like Venmo and CashApp make sending money simple.
Bank loans are also available online, and websites make comparison shopping easier than ever.
Unsurprisingly, the digitization of the banking industry has made it harder for smaller banks to compete. As a result, the number of U.S. commercial banks declined by almost 50% between 2000 and 2020 as large national banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo challenged local banks for business.Â
Consolidation isn’t the only change happening because of the rise of online banking.Â
In the past, bank lobbies consisted of a long counter staffed by tellers to handle transactions. As the need to deposit and withdraw money in person has fallen, banks have begun removing those teller lines and replacing them with teller pods staffed by only a few employees.Â
Bank branches are also being outfitted with self-service kiosks so customers can bank online within the branch rather than deal with an employee face to face.Â
The leftover space within these lobbies is being used to accommodate financial consultations, such as money management or lending, and less for transaction services. In some instances, banks are even creating in-branch cafes and business workspaces.
Overall, though, since banks need far less space than in the past, they’re either downsizing to smaller locations to save rent or closing branches to save on payroll, rent, maintenance, and utilities.
Banks navigate a series of challenges
Banks have turned increasingly toward fees and cost-cutting to shore up profits following a tough few years of challenges.
Related: Popular bank to close over a dozen branches (locations revealed)
First, the Federal Reserve’s decision in 2022 to embrace the most hawkish monetary policy since Fed Chair Volcker tackled inflation in the early 1980s caused the value of bonds held on balance sheets to drop, causing three of the largest bank failures in history.Â
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) went under on March 10, 2023, amid the largest one-day bank run in U.S. history, according to Brookings Institution. Soon after, similar risks caused Signature Bank and First Republic Bank to fail. New York Community Bancorp (now Flagstar Financial) acquired Signature Bank’s assets, while JP Morgan acquired First Republic Bank’s assets.
Quick action by regulators kept the failures from spreading, and banks have since adjusted the risks on their balance sheets. However, they’re facing other challenges in 2025.
Housing and auto prices remain elevated, and high mortgage and auto loan rates have kept a lid on borrowing. Banks have also witnessed increased credit card delinquencies and defaults because of cash-strapped borrowers falling behind on payments.Â
PNC Bank announces it’s closing over a dozen branches
Big banks like PNC Bank (PNC)  aren’t sitting back, waiting for these trends to change. Instead, they’re taking actions to right-size branch footprints.
Related: Massive big-box retail chain closing locations (here’s the list)
According to the Federal Reserve, PNC Bank is the nation’s seventh-biggest bank. It boasts $560 billion in assets and operates over 2,300 branches across 27 states. Its largest presence includes the East Coast and Midwest, but it’s expanding in the South and West.Â
The Pennsylvania-headquartered bank closed about 10% of its branches in 2023. It’s not closing nearly as many now, but it’s still trimming to curb costs.
In 2024, PNC Bank reported revenue and net income of $21.6 billion and $5.95 billion, respectively. Revenue was about flat while the bottom line grew about 5% year over year.
The bank recently filed documents with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) indicating the following branches are closed or will soon be closed:
10261 BRISTOW CENTER DR BRISTOW VA12805 W BLUEMOUND RD BROOKFIELD WI424 BROAD ST BLOOMFIELD NJ13490 COPPERMINE RD HERNDON VA7007 GRAHAM RD INDIANAPOLIS IN1603 WHETSTONE WAY BALTIMORE MD1184 MAIN AVE CLIFTON NJ58892 GRATIOT AVE NEW HAVEN MI2021 SPRING RD SUITE # 150 OAK BROOK IL3111 QUAKERBRIDGE RD HAMILTON NJ411 KING ST ALEXANDRIA VA5171 E I 20 SVC RD N WEATHERFORD TX420 BEVERLY AVE CANAL FULTON OH145 PASEO DEL PRADO AVE EDINBURG TX
While PNC Bank is closing those branches, it is opening other branches in new markets where it believes it can establish market share. In November, the bank said it will spend $1.5 billion to open 200 new branches in 12 cities over the next five years and renovate 1,400 existing branches.
Among the markets PNC Bank is targeting for new branches are Atlanta, Charlotte, Phoenix, and Miami. Previously, it also announced expansion plans in Texas, Arizona, and Colorado.
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