Branch banking

In the wake of multiple successes in 2023, the labor movement in the U.S. is continuing its efforts to expand. Recent successful union elections at Wells Fargo branches should be a wake-up call to the industry.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp declined to detail the savings it expects from the downsizing, though one analyst estimated it could shave $3 million from the company's annual noninterest expenses.

After focusing on cost control throughout much of 2023, including a round of job cuts, the Pittsburgh company has announced plans to expand in high-growth markets like Texas and refurbish more than 1,200 existing offices.

Lloyds Banking Group is cutting around 1,600 roles across its branches, part of a push by the lender to provide more services online.

The expansion program, entering its sixth year, gives the Cincinnati-based company a regional profile few of its competitors can match, CEO Tim Spence said on a conference call with analysts.

The North Carolina-based company said it expects to close about 4% of its branch network, or roughly 80 offices, by the end of the first quarter. The closures come amid Truist's $750 million cost-cutting initiative.

Overall merger-and-acquisition activity proved modest across the banking sector, but several prominent deals were reached. Read on for details of the year's biggest transactions.

The vote by workers in a New Mexico branch is the first union victory at a megabank in decades, though unionization efforts at another Wells branch took a step back.

The Cincinnati, Ohio, bank also promoted three other top executives to new roles. All of the changes will be effective in early 2024.

Across the industry, the pace of branch shutdowns slowed this year. Still, large financial institutions continued to trim their physical footprints, with two super-regional banks taking the most aggressive actions.