Bank branch closures continue to make splashes in the news. The latest one to join the ranks of financial institutions shuttering physical locations is Citizens Bank, who is closing 15 branches across the country

Citizens Bank justified their decision in an emailed statement explaining, “We’ve been on a journey at Citizens to evolve how our customers bank with us, and we continually review customer patterns to evolve and adjust branch strategy across our network.”

This is not a new justification for a downsizing strategy, most banks have been exploring how to increase their financial stability by eliminating redundant or underperforming physical locations. As the bank’s statement continues, “Pertaining to these closures, we look forward to continuing to serve customers through neighboring branches, as well as through our online and mobile banking platforms. We also remain committed to our branch network, with plans to add standalone branches over the next several years, in addition to continuing our investment in digital and mobile capabilities.”

This has been the most significant shift from the strategy of a few years ago that just involved closing down locations. The pandemic may have accelerated the rates of closings, but the reality is not every transaction can be done online.

The explosion of bank branches made it so that some locations had, admittedly, too many, especially in some urban areas where just the cost to run them rendered them not profitable. This meant that, with the early rise of online banking and transactions in ATMs, many of these “extra” branches were made redundant. This saved in operating costs, increased efficiency, and still left enough branches to cover all the in person needs customers may have had.

But the pandemic was the tipping point for many institutions, forced to upgrade their online systems in order for the economy to keep flowing, it presented banks with the opportunity to downsize significantly without consequence. As leases expired, locations were vacated and personnel relocated or transitioned into work from home or unemployment in a slow and steady manner. The further downfall of cash due to the virus also helped inform this decision.

But soon some areas became what is now known as a banking desert, where there are no branches available within reasonable driving distance and customers were forced to change banks in order to have their needs met, as still many operations need to be done in person with a teller. This is why the new bank strategy includes consolidation of branches instead of outright elimination, and the opening of new branches in places where there is not one within driving distance in order to serve those bank desert communities.

List of Citizens Bank locations that will be closing soon

Having said all that, the bank is still closing many of its physical locations, with 15 of them already scheduled for the new year. The locations span six states and are located in:

Massachusetts (MA)

• 1025 Truman Parkway, Hyde Park, MA. This location will be replaced by a Citizens Virtual Assistance experience that will allow customers to interact with a live virtual assistant that will help them with substantial cash withdrawals or payments and oteh more involved tasks.
• 535 Trapelo Road, Belmont, MA
• 248 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, MA
• 70 Pulaski Blvd, Bellingham, MA

Michigan (MI)

• 7000 Monroe Blvd, Taylor, MI
• 200 Merriman, Westland, MI

New Hampshire (NH)

• 122 Northeastern Blvd, Nashua, NH
  Ohio (OH)
• 7450 Broadview Road, Parma, OH

Pennsylvania (PA)

• 2497 Aramingo Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
• 4570 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA
• 4 South Baltimore Street, Dillsburg, PA
• 712 Washington Road, Pittsburgh, PA
• 200 Tarentum Bridge Road, New Kensington, PA
• 8345 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA

Rhode Island (RI)

• 275 Newport Avenue, Rumford, RI

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