U.S. banks shuttered 159 branches and opened 73 in September, resulting in 79,065 active branches, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
September net closures were 86, down from 88 in August and notably lower than the trailing-12-month average of 207 net closures. From the beginning of October 2021, banks have closed 3,521 branches and opened 1,035.
Many banks slashed their branch footprints in 2020, 2021 and the first seven months of 2022. But branch net closings have decelerated in recent months as banks thread the needle between cutting branches and pushing for digital channels.
Comerica tops list
Comerica Inc. was the top net branch closer in September with 21 closings and no openings. The Dallas-based company has been looking for ways to modify its business model, Chairman, CEO and President Curtis Farmer said during a conference presentation Sept. 13.
"The other things that we're working on are really a continuation of a theme around reducing square footage, really trying to have more flexible workspace accommodating how employees want to work on a go-forward basis, leveraging technology, really based on all the accelerating trends that we're seeing from customers wanting to use digital more and less human interaction, especially for transactional business," Farmer said.
Ending the month as the second-largest net closer, Wells Fargo & Co. shut 16 branches without any openings. JPMorgan Chase & Co. ranked third with 18 closings and 5 openings.
Wells Fargo has closed 208 branches and opened nine over the last 12 months, and JPMorgan has closed 199 and opened 142.
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The most active net opener in the month was Jefferson City, Mo.-based Central Banco. Inc. with three openings and no closings, followed by Ridgeland, Miss.-based BancPlus Corp., Spokane Valley, Wash.-based State Bancorp Northwest and Curtis, Neb.-based Western Bancshares Inc. with two openings each and zero closings.
Closures by geography
In September, the Northeast region saw the most branch net closures with 26, down from 30 in August and 86 in July.
The West region was No. 2 with 18 net closures, and South Central third with 16.
California had the most net closures on a statewide basis with 15, followed by Texas with 12 and New York with 11.
The states with the most net openings were Kentucky, Nebraska and West Virginia with two each.
