BOK Financial is shutting down its grocery store branch model, which will result in the closure of 29 grocery store branches by the first quarter of next year.
The move has been initiated in the wake of increasing adoption of digital banking by consumers for everyday transactions.
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The branches to be closed include 24 in Oklahoma, three in New Mexico and two in North Texas, while ten remaining instore branches in Northeast and Central Oklahoma will be relocated in their market areas and will stay open until new locations are identified.
Pat Piper, executive vice president for consumer banking, said, "We launched the Instore grocery branch model back in the mid-1990s as a way to add another convenience option for clients who were visiting the grocery store and the bank weekly, or even more often. Today, the majority of our clients are using mobile and online banking, as well as deposit-friendly ATMs, for the transactions they used to do in these regular bank visits."
The branch closures will result in the displacement of about 75 employees.
According to Piper, some instore branch employees will be placed either in existing open positions or in new relationship banker positions, and displaced employees will also be eligible for severance packages and retention bonuses following the branch closures.
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By GlobalDataFollowing full implementation of the move in the second quarter of 2015, the lender is projected to reap cost savings between $7m to $8m per year.
However, the company is planning to retain the instore ATMs, and Jill Hall, senior vice president for branch delivery, said, "We have enjoyed long-standing, mutually beneficial relationships with our grocery store partners for many years. While we won’t have bankers in their stores anymore, we know that our depositfriendly ATMs are a key driver for our clients and see it as a continuing benefit to the grocers."
