90 Bank Branches Closed While 11 New Branches Opened

Continued Decline Due to Expansion of Non-Face-to-Face Transactions... 6,326 Stores as of End of June

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The number of domestic bank branches continues to decline due to the expansion of non-face-to-face transactions such as mobile banking and efforts to improve branch efficiency. While 11 new branches were opened, 90 branches were closed.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 14th, as of the end of June, the total number of domestic bank branches was 6,326, a decrease of 79 from 6,405 at the end of last year. The trend of branch reduction has rapidly progressed with 23 closures in 2018, 57 in 2019, and 304 in 2020, and 79 branches have already been reduced in the first half of this year.

While 11 new branches were opened due to the expansion of non-face-to-face transactions such as mobile banking and efforts to improve branch efficiency, 90 branches were closed. The reduction in branches of commercial banks accounted for 54, or 68.4% of the total. Regional banks and specialized banks also decreased by 15 and 10 branches, respectively.

By bank, Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank each saw the largest decrease with 18 branches closed, followed by Korea Development Bank (8), Daegu Bank (7), Woori Bank (6), Shinhan Bank (5), and Citibank (4). By region, branches located in metropolitan areas (the Seoul Capital Area and metropolitan cities) decreased by 61, while non-metropolitan areas saw a reduction of 18 branches.

A Financial Supervisory Service official stated, "While respecting banks' autonomy in branch operations, we will guide them to minimize inconvenience to financial users such as the elderly," and added, "We plan to continue supervisory efforts to protect financial users' access to finance by ensuring banks faithfully operate joint procedures for branch closures, such as prior impact assessments."

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