Analysts discuss if the closures represent still darker times ahead for the brick and mortar banking industry.
Author’s Note
This article is based on corporate postings and accredited media reports. Linked information within this article is attributed to the following outlets: ProPublica.org, NPR.com, WFMZ.com, and Google.com.
Introduction
This month has been a veritable disaster for the U.S. banking industry. For a brief as to the recent collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, see ProPublica.org overview here.
Per a March 14th report from NPR.com, “The White House is Avoiding One Word When it Comes to Silicon Valley Bank: Bailout,” the federal government has been scrupulously careful with its verbiage on the former matter.
As excerpted from the article: After Silicon Valley Bank careened off a cliff last week, jittery venture capitalists and tech startup leaders pleaded with the Biden administration for help, but they made one point clear: "We are not asking for a bank bailout," more than 5,000 tech CEOs and founders begged.
The report goes on to state: On the same day the U.S. government announced extraordinary steps to prop up billions of dollars of the bank's deposits, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and President Biden hammered the same talking point: Nobody is being bailed out…
Now comes word on the heels of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapses that more individual Wells Fargo locations are permanently closing, at least two in the state of Pennsylvania, following six branch closures last year in Philadelphia alone.
Though these represent branch closures as opposed to closures of the entities themselves, they are also symptoms of larger issues.
Let us explore further.
U.S. Banks, 2023
According to a March 19th report from WFMZ.com, entitled “Another Branch Bites the Dust: Wells Fargo to Close West Tilghman Street Location,” the popularity of digital banking is acknowledged as a factor in this regard.
As excerpted from the report: And another branch bites the dust, as digital banking gains popularity over bricks-and-mortar offices. This time, it's Wells Fargo's South Parkland branch at 4797 W. Tilghman St. in South Whitehall Township. Banks are closing branches across the U.S. as customers choose mobile banking, electronic payments and direct deposits over going to an office.
Wells Fargo issued an official statement, as included in the report: "Wells Fargo made the difficult decision to close our South Parkland branch in Allentown on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at 12:00 p.m.," a statement from the bank says. "We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause, and customers can continue to bank with us at our other nearby locations, including our Cedar Crest branch which is about two miles away."
Wells Fargo previously announced that its Rodgers Street and Easton Avenue branch in Bethlehem will also close June 7.
For now, industry analysts are debating online — as a targeted Google search will verify — if these upcoming bank closures will piggyback into further closures of Wells Fargo branches in other states, but the arguments to now are purely speculative.
Conclusion
This is a developing story. In the event of pertinent updates to this matter, I will share them here on NewsBreak.
Thank you for reading.
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