Bank branches represent an option for people to resolve problems related to their financial products, pay bills or make deposits. However, in the In recent years, there has been an increase in the closure of these branches due to decisions made by banks.
In five years, according to the compilation of financial operations reports from the Financial Superintendence of Colombia, There have gone from 6,338 offices in 2018 to 5,909 at the end of 2023. That is, last year there were 6.8% or 429 fewer offices than five years ago.
Among the banks that closed the most are Banco de Bogotá with 289; Scotiabank Colpatria with 134; and Itaú with 92 closed points.
“I don’t believe that the closure of the offices is really due to the fact that things are going badly for them.”. I believe that many banks are seeing a significant migration of customers to their digital channels. We are seeing it too, but the truth is we still find a very big opportunity in terms of growth in the number of offices,” said Juan Pablo Cruz, president of Banco Unión.
This situation can be explained by the banks’ willingness to concentrate their resources in the digital field, as explained by Alfredo Barragán M., banking specialist at the U de Los Andes, ““The banking landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by digitalization and the search for efficiency.”
He added that the trend towards online banking has changed the way customers interact with their banks, leading to a decrease in dependence on physical branches.
The Ranking
Banco Agrario is the entity that even after five years has the most offices, going from 776 to 793 and, in fact, it is one of the few banks that in this period of time did not close offices, but, on the contrary, opened them. This financial entity is followed by Bancolombia, which in 2018 had 704 offices and by the end of 2023 it had 668 points.
The third bank that had the most offices in 2018 was Banco de Bogotá. However, it was one of the entities that closed the most offices and by 2023 it was positioned in fifth place in entities with the most offices. Banco de Bogotá went from having 701 points to having 412, which is why it closed 289 offices in five years. Banco de Davivienda was in third place at the end of 2023, as it had 547 points and in 2018 it had 570.
The pandemic and post-pandemic were the years in which the most offices were closed, as clients saw the need to explore digitalization. Proof of this is that in 2020, 436 offices were closed compared to 2019 and by 2022 the number of offices was reduced to 5,616. This downward trend seemed to continue, but last year some offices were reopened and according to the Superfinanciera, at the end of 2023 there were 5,909 offices left. Wilson Triana, banking specialist, added that currently “self-management is imposed, which is why they choose to close offices and reduce face-to-face service; it is estimated in the short term that operations will exceed 70% through the digital channel. ”.
Correspondents, a piece of inclusion
Correspondents represent a fundamental piece in financial inclusion by allowing remote or difficult-to-access communities to carry out basic transactions without having to travel long distances to the entity. “They are alternative channels that the bank has, attended by a third party who works on behalf of the credit establishment, “It has allowed them to atomize the service, making a presence in remote places with a service offer, through the grocer channel, as well as with specialized points,” added Wilson Triana, banking expert.
