Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

The crazy part is the company is shutting down everything else, not just branches. They're shutting down lending units, shutting down technology, shutting down investigations, they're getting rid of all of it as if they don't plan to actually be in business, or if "going to the cloud" means they won't need employees anymore.

WF had more branches than their peers. The big monstrosities are no longer needed. Transactions are going digital, so a branch on every corner doesn’t make sense. Bad decisions are also being made, like Chicago and NY.

If you hold shares of WFC, this is theoretically a good thing unless branches were part of some unarticulated growth strategy.

Only theoretically though... The decision making out of this leadership group is weak and late, and waste wise, the low hanging fruit is the redundant, directionless armies of admin and back office support.

Funny, they are opening up branches in Chicago, where bank robberies, muggings and car jackings have increased. I guess someone believes this has been all figured out.

"Branches get a raw deal. There are tons on dead wood to chop in support teams."

Classic misdiagnosis of the issue!
While all the deadwood contained within the branches certainly is a concern, it has nothing to do with banks shutting them down. It's the total cost of these obsolete drains on the corporate bottom line that has sealed their fate. The birth of the iPhone technology has only hastened the inevitable. Keep in mind, banks are in business to make profits to satisfy shareholder equity. Branches have become an impediment to that goal.

Good.
they had way too many with the W merger anyways

Branches get a raw deal. There are tons on dead wood to chop in support teams.

Branches actually bring more value than admin buildings do, but rest assured Hudson Yards plans on closing both.

These cost centers need to go. There are very few things anyone needs to go to a branch for.

Good or bad, does it really matter what the number is for bank branch closings? The same question could be asked for what banks are closing their branches.

Just as the introduction of the iPhone to American culture has, for the most part, ended what we knew as the Blackberry technology, wrist watches, calendars, note pads, etc. it is now also ending the need for bank branches. It wont be long before branches become as useful as the buggy whip, IMHO!

Wells Fargo was just behind and they are playing catch up. Chase and BoA ramped up their closures a few years ago.

Adding link:

https://en.as.com/latest_news/wells-fargo-branch-closures-in-2023-here-is-the-full-list-n/