In the last five years, the Colombian banking landscape has experienced a significant change: the closure of physical branches. According to the Financial Superintendence of Colombia, between 2018 and 2023, 429 bank offices have disappearedwhich represents a reduction of 6.8%.
This trend responds, to a large extent, to the migration of customers towards digital channels such as online banking and mobile applications.
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Banks, seeking to optimize their resources and adapt to new user preferences, have concentrated their efforts on strengthening these channels, considering them more efficient and profitable.
Banks with the highest number of closures:
Bank of Bogota: 289 offices closed
Scotiabank Colpatria: 134 offices closed
Itaú: 92 offices closed
Banks with the most offices currently:
Agrarian Bank: 793 offices
Bancolombia: 668 offices
Davivienda: 547 offices
That is to say, 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 rather, for the On the contrary, it opened. 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 impact of the pandemic
The pandemic accelerated customer adoption of digital channels, further driving branch closures. In 2020, just one year after the start of the pandemic, 436 offices were closed.
Although the trend of branch closures seems to continue, some experts point out that these are still They play an important role for certain segments of the population, such as older adults or people in rural areas with limited internet access.
In this context, the banking correspondents become a key piece for the financial inclusionbringing basic banking services to remote areas of the country.
The future of bank branches will be marked by adaptation to new customer needs and the search for a balance between the efficiency of digital channels and the personalized attention offered by physical branches.
“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.”
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”.
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