Banks are closing branches much faster than they are opening new ones, impacting both convenience stores and their customers. As bank locations shutter, consumers and businesses will find it more difficult to easily access in-person financial services. But this inconvenient trend creates more than concern, it also generates opportunity – especially for those willing and able to offer banking services alternatives.
In 2022, banks closed over 3,000 branch locations but only opened around 1,000 new ones. Major banks like JP Morgan Chase, PNC, and Citizens Bank recently closed 64 branches in just one week.
This trend leaves many neighborhoods without easy access to in-person banking, especially impacting rural, minority, elderly, disabled, and lower-income communities. The number of US counties with no bank branches has grown from 700 in 2012 to over 1,200 today.
Banking Deserts Can Generate New Revenue Opportunities for Retailers
Studies show most consumers still want convenient access to in-person banking: 87% say proximity to branches is important, and 90% want easy access to ATMs. Yet that access is consistently dwindling as financial institutions continue to shutter locations and cut back on ATM spend.
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As branches close, the demand for alternative financial service locations grows, creating an opportunity for retail locations like convenience stores to step in. Today’s ATMs can offer a range of self-service financial processes beyond the standard cash withdrawal. But new, cash-recycling kiosks are expanding these offerings even further, enabling convenience stores and other retail locations to truly fill gaps left by departing banks.
Systems like BANK IN A BOX, for example, operate like a full-service financial kiosk, ATM, and cash recycling system right inside a store. Custom software and integrations let customers easily deposit cash and withdraw money in multiple denominations. Additional financial integrations can also provide options for money transfers, bill payments, and other ways of converting cash into digital currency for use online.
Retailers offering these types of financial services can become a financial services destination for the local community – and earn additional revenues on successful kiosk transactions.
Expanding Revenues Via Banking Relationships
Banks closing local branches risk alienating customers. However, they can avoid some of the negative impacts by redirecting account holders to nearby locations for continued financial access. Rather than attempting to place their own remote machines, banks and credit unions could partner with convenience stores and other retail locations to offer safer, enclosed locations for their account holders.
To attract these bank partnerships, convenience stores can install cash-recycling financial kiosks and work with banks that are reducing branch presence to provide financial transactions to their account holders for a nominal monthly or transaction-based fee.
Advanced financial kiosks like BANK IN A BOX offer more appeal for financial institutions through capabilities like cash deposits and flexible software capable of hosting bank-related services like loan servicing, account opening, and bill pay. Even better, the multi-denomination cash-recycling capabilities let bank partners service their consumer account holders as well as accept deposits and deliver change to their small and medium business account customers.
Bank Closures Impact Employee Time and Security
Trips to and from the bank pose safety risks and burn employee time that could be spent on revenue-driving tasks.
With fewer nearby bank branches, staff likely need to travel farther to make deposits and obtain change, wasting productive time. Recent crime data also shows an increase in what is being called “jugging”. This tactic specifically targets bank visitors who carry large amounts of cash, creating distractions or even violent confrontations for bad actors to take off with the money. These incidents cost retailers thousands in lost funds and put employees at increased risk.
And the larger the distance to and from the bank, the more opportunity criminals have to attack.
Self-service cash recycling kiosks, like BANK IN A BOX, can improve security for cash and staff, despite branch closures by:
- Providing on-site deposits eliminates the need for dangerous bank runs.
- Securely counting, verifying, and recording cash
- Reducing in-store cash crime risks by recycling notes out-of-store to ATM/kiosk users
By understanding the impacts of bank closures on your business and community and evaluating consumer demand for banking access, convenience stores can leverage this ongoing branch closure trend to their advantage. The customer desire for banking services isn’t going away. But savvy convenience store and retail businesses can fill the financial gaps left by exiting banks to offset store risks, gain new customers, and make money while doing it.
