EU branching out: 20,000 bank outlets closed in EU since start of downturn — RT Business

EU branching out: 20,000 bank outlets closed in EU since start of downturn — RT Business:

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Pedestrians walk past closed banks in central Athens, July, 16, 2013 (Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)

Banks in Europe have cut 5,500 branches in 2012, bringing the total number of outlets closed since the beginning of the credit crunch in 2008 to 20,000. To cut costs financial institutions are shrinking their bricks-and-mortar presence and going digital.

There is now one banking branch for every 2,300 people in the EU, 8 percent down from four years ago, according to European Central Bank statistical data, processed by Reuters. And though 8 percent might seem not such a big figure, it means some of residents, namely those in the peripheral regions, no longer have easy access to banking services.

The Spanish financial industry is one of the EU leaders in economizing by cutting bank outlets. Almost a fifth of branches there disappeared since 2008. A Spanish lender Bankia as a result had to introduce a mobile service – a bus carrying banking equipment to remote areas. "

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