Not long ago, going to the bank was part of the weekly errands on your to-do list. But thanks to new technology, it's now possible to take care of most things using your phone or computer from wherever you are—including cashing checks or transferring funds. These changes have led some major banks to scale back on their physical locations to help save them money. And now, Wells Fargo is closing even more of its branches, starting Oct. 4. Read on to see which locations will be affected.
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Wells Fargo is closing more branches in the coming weeks.
Jonathan Weiss / ShutterstockWells Fargo customers will soon have fewer options for in-person services. The bank recently confirmed it would be closing its branches in Bosque Farms and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on Oct. 4, the Albuquerque Business Journal reports.
The latest closures come months after Wells Fargo shuttered another New Mexico location in Santa Fe in May and just weeks after it axed its Corrales branch on Aug. 16. The bank originally announced the forthcoming closures in regulatory filings with the federal Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) in early July, which is required at least 90 days in advance of any branch closings, according to the Albuquerque Business Journal.
"Branches continue to play an important role in the way we serve our customers, and customers continue to value the experiences they have in our branches," Ruben Pulido, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo, said in a statement.
"Additionally, customers use our wide range of digital capabilities for many of their banking needs and, as a result, more transactions are happening outside the branch. As customer preferences and transaction patterns change, so will our branches and the experiences customers have in them," he said, adding that the bank still had 57 branches across New Mexico, including 23 in Albuquerque.
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The bank recently announced it would be closing several dozen other locations this year.
iStockNew Mexico isn't the only place where Wells Fargo will be scaling back its presence. The popular consumer bank's most recent OCC filings show that impending closures will affect locations across 16 states, The Daily Mail reported on Aug. 18.
The list includes six branches in California; four each in Florida and Georgia; three each in Pennsylvania and Virginia; and two each in Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas. It also includes one each in Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin; and one location in Washinton, D.C., per The Daily Mail.
On top of other filings made since January, this means the bank will be closing more than 100 of its 4,000 branches nationwide this year.
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The bank says it's still expanding its services in some areas despite the decline.
LMWH / ShutterstockAt a time when swiping and tapping are becoming more common ways to pay, the need for a physical bank location may not be as pressing as it once was. However, the company says it's still aware of its customers' needs and will streamline its operations instead of pulling out of many areas entirely.
"While the total number of branches continues to decline, new branches are being opened in high growth neighborhoods of existing markets, allowing us to offer more branch convenience," a Wells Fargo spokesperson told The Daily Mail in August. "We may also open new branches where we combine two older existing branches into one better-situated location."
Other major banks are also scaling back their branches nationwide.
Shutterstock/Syda ProductionsEven though Wells Fargo may be the latest to announce closures, it's far from the only major bank that's shuttered branch locations recently. This spring, PNC Bank said it would be closing 30 more branches across seven states by July, bringing the total losses for the year to 203 locations, the Pittsburgh Business Times reported.
And in April, Santander announced the closure of 17 of its branches, while JP Morgan Chase announced the shuttering of three branches.
The trend of mothballing physical branches appears to be picking up speed as more customers move towards digital services. Data shows that from 2017 through 2021, 7,425 bank branches closed nationwide—wiping out nine percent of all locations, Insider Intelligence reported in March.
And it's not just human tellers that are going away: Research also shows that ATMs are declining. According to data from research firm Euromonitor, the overall count in the U.S. decreased from 470,000 in 2019 to 451,500 by the end of 2021, per The Daily Mail.
