Citizens bank branch closures now surge to 120 locations after the US bank announced it would be shuttering some of its most convenient branches.
Retail banking has moved online at a fast paced over recent years as younger generations such as Gen Z and Millennials opt-in for banking apps over physical branches.
Citizens bank, which has nearly 1,000 branches across 14 states and Washington DC, made the announcement that it was closing locations during their Q2 earnings call.
Why is Citizens Bank Closing Branch Locations?
Citizens bank branch closures are on the rise. Q2 earnings report tells us why.
In Citizens Bank latest Q2 earnings report, the bank announced a ‘Network Optimization’ plan to exit 100-120 in-store branches to self-fund 50-60 new traditional branches.
The branch closures will be selective, strategic closures to upgrade other branches.
The goal is to add more ‘attractive’ branches over the course of the next 10 years.
Citizens Bank is also looking to expand its sales capacity and add private client bankers and specialists coverage in wealth and small business.
“Over the last 10 years we have created a more efficient network…
Going forward we will optimize for deeper relationships and faster growth,” the bank said.
Citizens Bank is focusing on deeper connections with small businesses and more affluent customers.
Renovations are expected to shrink branches from roughly 7,000 square feet to around 2,000 to 3,000 square feet to elevate the personal experience.
Official Statements from Citizens Bank Earnings Call
Citizens Bank earnings call statements and branch closure plan.
“This type of careful investment in physical locations and in people, if executed well, should create a nice lift in the deposit trajectory without taking on the risk and significant capital expenditure of opening a whole bunch of de novos outside of the footprint,” Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun said during the earnings call.
“We’re going to do a lot of surgery around some of our legacy markets,” Citizens Bank President Brendan Coughlin told Banking Dive in March, noting a focus on the New England area.
One of the goals is to gear the bank towards “mass-affluent” customers and making branches “more impressive, [on] the right corner, [with] the right staffing,” Banking Dive reported.
The bank has not disclosed which branches it will be shuttering at the time of this writing.
Financials Are Positive Despite Closures
Citizens Bank’s financials remain strong despite the closures.
During the earnings call, Citizens Bank revealed a 13.9% ROTCE in its second-quarter earnings statement, up from 12.2% three months earlier.
The bank also said it plans to maintain its goal of reaching 16% to 18% return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) by the end of 2027.
The bank’s profit also rose 35% year over year in the second quarter to $587 million, and revenue jumped 12% year over year to $2.3 billion, according to Thursday’s report.
Citizens Bank branch closures may be rising, but so are the bank’s profits.
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