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A UK-based bank has announced that it will be shutting down some of its branches.
Lloyds Banking Group, one of the leading banks in the United Kingdom, announced its plans to close down 400 branches, which would result in a total of 9,000 job losses. In addition, the company also intends to downsize some of its branches into “micro branches”, which have only two staff members and tablet devices assisting customers.
In contrast to traditional bank branches, micro branches will not have counters and customers will be expected to complete their transactions through self-service machines and communicate with advisers through video links. Currently, Lloyds Bank has a pilot micro branch in Paternoster Square, London. All micro branches will eventually be patterned after the pilot model.
Lloyds Bank is not the first banking company to reduce its number of branches. In 2016, HSBC announced that they will be shutting down 62 of their major branches. In the United States, Bank of America and Citigroup have reduced the number of their branches and cut down on their employees. This action resulted in 20,000 job losses.
The deviation of the bank industry mainly stems from changes in consumer behavior brought about by the convenience that online banking provides. Nevertheless, a Lloyds Bank representative stated that the company will do its best to establish a compromise between keeping their branches as part of their strategy and addressing the preferences of customers.