The Branch is Dead. Long Live the Branch.

So bank mergers killed bank branches. Nothing to do with the internet.

I humbly disagree.

The Washington Post includes two graphs in the article. The first depicts climbing bank branches and falling bank charters. The second depicts net bank opens dropping into the negatives in 2010.

The missing graph - or ideally, the graph I’d like to see - would be a little more sophisticated, detailing net branches for banks that completed a recent merger, though even that likely simplifies the situation. Since I don’t have access to this dream graph (but if you know where it is, please share), let’s take a look at some other data.

SNL Financial reported earlier this year that in 2012, bank branches demonstrated a net decline across the board. Among the biggest closers of bank branches last year:

Bank of America down 244

Wells Fargo down 61

PNC down 50

Bank of America’s last acquisition? 2009 (Merrill Lynch)

Wells Fargo? 2008 (Wachovia)

The two biggest branch closers, with a net decline of 305 branches, don’t have any recent acquisition history.

Let’s look at PNC, who had several 2011 acquisitions: RBC Bank USA, and branches from FlagStar and BankAtlantic. What has PNC done since adding those banks to their roster?

PNC’s earnings release for the first quarter of 2013 reveals the following:

• PNC closed 30 branches, and opened five, during the first quarter, with plans to close a total of 200 branches this year.
• Deposits made via ATM and mobile increased to 20 percent of total deposits in the first quarter. The number of customers using online banking increased 11 percent from a year ago.

What about branches in Florida and Georgia? The South Florida Business Journal reported that, while PNC planned to close one branch in Fort Lauderdale,plans were underway to open a zero energy usage branch nearby and 12 other new branches in South Florida. In 2011, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that PNC expected to build more branches in metro Atlanta. These are markets in which Pittsburgh-based PNC wanted to expand — markets that complemented the bank’s desire to grow. PNC wasn’t swallowing nearby competition.

The bank branch picture is tremendously complicated. Do banks often close branches due to mergers? Absolutely — both before and after the financial crisis. But the rapid decline of the branch can look more to changing consumer behavior, enhancements in technology and increasing costs of doing business as the cause.

All information on acquisition history is available on the corporate websites of these banks, or on Wikipedia.