Branch Closures Outpace Openings by Nearly 1,000 Over Last 12 Months

During the 12 month period ending June 30, the banking industry has closed 1,942 branches according to research from SNL Financial, which broke down the data by median household income census tracts.

Bank branch closures have outpaced branch openings in all income areas during the past year. There were 991 branch openings during the past year, for a net loss of 951 branches, according to SNL data.

Overall, branches located in the lowest income areas lost 133 bank branches, while 58 were opened, according to SNL. For areas with a median household income of between $25-50,000, 908 branches were closed while 389 were opened; areas with a median household income of between of between $50-100,000 saw 753 branch closings compared with 426 openings and areas with a median income of more than $100,000 lost 148 branches, compared with 118 openings.

However, the industry still boasts more than 1,000 more branches than it did on June 30, 2006, according to the data.

[Branch Closures Revved Up in Late 2012, Study Finds]

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio