Bank of America Will Close More Branches With Increasing Mobile Usage

Increasing mobile adoption has Bank of America planning to cut more branches this year, after closing more than 300 last year.

Bank of America saw its number of mobile banking customers increase by 20% in 2013 to 14.4 million, the bank said in its Q4 earnings report, which was released yesterday. The bank has invested nearly $500 million in its mobile channel, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in a subsequent earnings call, according to media reports.

[For More on This Topic, “Branch Closures Outpace Openings by Nearly 1,000 Over Last 12 Months”]

Although the investment seems to be working in increasing mobile adoption, it seems as though it will spell bad news for the bank’s branch network. More check deposits at Bank of America are moving to the mobile channel, with mobile check deposits increasing to 9% of all checks deposited at the bank last quarter, up from 7% the previous quarter.

The bank will close more branches in 2014, CFO Bruce Thompson said during the call, after reducing its number of branches in 2013 from 5,478 to 5,151. Thompson said the bank’s branch network could fall below 5,000 total branches in 2014.

Jonathan Camhi has been an associate editor with Bank Systems & Technology since 2012. He previously worked as a freelance journalist in New York City covering politics, health and immigration, and has a master's degree from the City University of New York's Graduate School ... View Full Bio