From 1934 to 2009 there were only two years where bank branches declined and we are now headed towards the seventh consecutive year where bank branches are closing; there were 78,014 bank branches in 2018, a 6.6 percent decline from 2012; with a bigger focus on digital banking small rural communities are feeling the pain significantly more than urban areas; 33 percent of people outside of cities rely on bank tellers to help with their banking, while only 20 percent of people inside cities use bank tellers regularly; “Banks do not just cash checks and make loans — they also place ads in small-town newspapers, donate to local nonprofits and sponsor local Little League teams,” the Fed’s Randall Quarles said to American Banker. “As towns lose banks and bankers, they also lose important local leaders.”; small towns all across the country are feeling the hurt of branches closing, with older generations being shut out the most as they are slowest to adopt new digital tools; the Fed is studying the issue but a solution has yet to be found and the trend of fewer bank branches does not seem to be slowing down. American Banker
