Bank explains decision to close Clinton branch
By Randy Bell
BankPlus says shutting down five branches in the Jackson area—including the Clinton Parkway location—is the result of more customers choosing technology for their banking needs – and it’s a trend that started years ago, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The adoption of all kinds of business and consumer technologies has decreased branch traffic across the banking industry for over a decade now,” says the bank’s Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Product Development Officer Rob Armour. “The number of people visiting our physical branch locations at BankPlus follows that national trend.”
Armour says the bank continually monitors branch usage.
“When we look at what the data tells us in Clinton, it shows that more and more of our customers are choosing to use technology over the branch. Or, if they do visit a branch, they are visiting other BankPlus locations, including Clinton Boulevard more than the Clinton Parkway location.”
And those customer choices force decisions.
“You can see that banks need to really weigh how to properly invest in the mix between technology and physical locations,” he says. “And that is a mix that is constantly changing as customer behavior evolves.”
While people were already embracing virtual banking before the pandemic, Armour says COVID-19 was a “catalyst” that prompted a lot of customers to try the newer technologies.
“And, once they tried them, they continued to use them,” said Armour.
The impact of some technology on branch traffic is easy to understand.
“An Interactive Teller Machine (ITM), for instance, allows customers to have a face-to-face conversation with a live teller without having to go inside a branch,” Armour says.
Sometimes, the cause and effect is less obvious.
“Every time a customer pays another person using their smartphone, it reduces the need to get cash from a bank or deposit cash at a physical location.”
BankPlus has already alerted customers that the Clinton Parkway branch—which opened in 1999 – will close on December 1. Notices have been posted in the branch, and customers were mailed letters. The building will be sold. Other BankPlus branches are closing for similar reasons, including two in Rankin County, one in Madison and one in Jackson.
