Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo among banks closed in just 5 weeks in shock moves dominating shut downs in 2025
HUGE US banks have been shutting down branches left and right, including Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.
These banking giants, among others, have shuttered roughly 145 branches across just five weeks with more likely on the way.
The financial institutions notified the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, of their planned closures with dates spanning from February 7 to March 14.
Filing the required shutdown notice does not necessarily mean all of the listed banks closed down, although in most cases they do.
Flagstar Bank topped the list of banks slated for closure with 44 branches, followed by TD Bank with 38 locations.
Bank of America, which saw the greatest number of branch closures in 2024 at 168, registered plans to close nine locations from February 7 to March 14.
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Chase also filed notice for nine closures during the same five week period.
The closures were preceded by another wave of shutdowns from January 12 to February 6, during which banks such as US Bank, Wells Fargo, and PNC notified the OCC of 107 planned closures.
The wave of closures is expected to intensify in 2025, leading to a further 4.11% reduction by the year's end.
"Retail bank closures in the US aren't slowing, and our research shows that the last time this many people relied on a local bank branch was in 1995," digital marketing expert Darren Kingman told DailyMail.com.
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Bank branches shutting down across the country are an ongoing trend worsened by the pandemic.
In 2023, the US experienced the greatest number of bank failures since the 2008 recession.
Then, in the third quarter of 2024, US bank branch closures reached their highest quarterly level since the first quarter of 2022, with 439 net closures.
A total of 944 net branches were closed in the first nine months of 2024.
Why are banks closing down?
There are a number of factors contributing to the accelerating levels of bank branches shutting down in the US:
- Bank assets - such as cash, investments, loans, and reserves - are dropping in value due to increasing interest rates, leaving banks without enough assets to pay off their debts
- Economic factors such as higher interest rates, slowed economic growth, inflation, recessions, and housing market crashes have contributed to bank branch closures
- Following the 2008 recession, stricter regulations, including FDIC deposit protection and potential congressional oversight, may increase the risk of bank branch closures
- Tech changes such as the rise in online and mobile banking have made it more difficult for bank branches to make ends meet
Source: Integrated Cash Logistics
LOCAL LOSS
The significant drop in bank branch numbers could have far reaching impacts on those who rely on physical bank locations, experts have warned.
While we are moving towards a cashless society, widespread bank closures mean a jump in the number of customers per bank branch, Kingman explained to DailyMail.com.
Coupled with the fact that more than 200 million Americans still make cash deposits, the expert predicted "longer wait times in banks and a potentially lower overall customer experience."
The closure of these branches can be particularly problematic for elderly customers, who may have more difficulty with online and mobile banking services.
The mass shutdowns also disproportionately impact banking customers who are on low incomes, disabled, or from racially diverse backgrounds, research has shown.
Physical banks may become a thing of the past, with the last brick-and-mortar bank potentially shuttering as early as 2041, per a report from Self Financial.
This year was estimated by analyzing the rate of net bank branch closures across the US, which has averaged 1,646 every year since 2018.
While economic factors such as high interest rates, slowed economic growth, and inflation have pushed mass bank branch closures, they have also led to increasing rates of store shutdowns.
Read More on The US Sun
For example, an iconic discount retailer and Dollar Tree rival confirmed it would close down 141 locations as the CEO revealed a cryptic flaw.
Meanwhile, a craft retailer’s liquidation sales are in full swing as it closes 500 stores – but now shoppers face orders warning.