Branch banking

The North Carolina company had promised regulators not to close large numbers of branches until December. Meanwhile, vendor contracts, leases and other hurdles have made it hard to accelerate efforts to offset a sudden decline in revenue.

The Illinois company will shutter 17 locations, or about 15% of its branches, early next year.

The Minneapolis company says the majority of branches earmarked for closing have already been shuttered for months due to the pandemic. Some of the savings will be plowed back into digital expansion.

The coronavirus outbreak has taught community bankers to think on their feet and experiment. Speakers at an industry conference this week advised their peers to stay innovative to ensure they endure in a changing world.

With its first branch outside the Northeast U.S., the unit of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander wants to reach international clients who are familiar with the brand.

Many sectors are concerned about making money in an economic downturn, but those fears are higher in the financial sector, according to a study from Arizent.

The company joins a growing list of community banks paring back their networks.

Whether it was their nimble shift to digital, or willingness to interact in new ways with customers in branches, bank employees have met head-on the business challenges posed by the outbreak.

Russia's largest bank is reinventing itself as a technology company and selling its own consumer electronic devices. Its chief tech officer says the moves are all about developing broader, more enduring customer relationships that the bank controls fully.

The moves are intended to offset a protracted period of historically low interest rates and expectations of higher credit costs in 2021.