The EU banks closed about 20,000 branches through 2009 to 2012, according to Reuters citing the ECB.
Particularly, in 2012 banks shut down 5,500 offices. In 2011, 7,200 branches were closed. Overall, almost 218,700 local departments of financial organizations, or 1 office per 2,300 persons, functioned at the end of the last year.
In 2012, the greatest reduction of 5.7% in banks was recorded in Greece. The Spanish bank sector lost 4.9% of branches significantly. Italy and Ireland cut 3.3% and 3.1%, respectively. At the same time, some Eastern European countries increased the number of additional offices. Poland saw a 4% rise, in the Czech Republic, they added 2.3% in bank branches and 1.8% in Lithuania.
Banks shrink offices in order to lower costs. In Europe, more and more customers prefer online and telephone banking. This fact compels financial institutions to change the traditional business model to online banking systems.
As Deutsche Bank reports, 60% of expenses in the financial sector are paid for branch maintenance. Using online banking systems the banks can save 15-20 billion euros by 2021.
