First Chicago NBD Corp. plans to close an estimated 100 of its 650 branches, mostly in Michigan and Indiana, over the next two years, a spokesman said Friday.
Spokesman Richard Johnson called the estimate a "ballpark" figure, and said all branches are being studied for a reduction in size or remodeling. He was clarifying comments made by a First Chicago executive to the Bank Administration Institute's Retail Delivery '97 conference in New Orleans.
First Chicago plans to replace some branches with smaller offices, supermarket branches, and automated teller machines, he said.
The company also plans to increases its teller machine network. First Chicago has nearly 1,400 ATMs, including 400 outside its own banks; it is aiming to increase the number of off-site teller machines to about 740.
The cost of the branch closures, reductions, and remodeling is expected to total about $100 million, the company said.
First Chicago closed a number of Chicago-area branches last year as part of a cost-cutting program related to its 1995 merger with NBD Corp. Mr. Johnson said he didn't expect many more Chicago branches to be closed. "Frankly, additional reductions in Illinois are probably a small part of all this," Mr. Johnson said.
A company spokeswoman said an announcement would be forthcoming early next year about branch closings, branch reductions, and ATM deployment in Illinois.
First Chicago has already closed 33 branches since its 1995 merger and has opened 31 offices, mostly supermarket branches, since that time.
