• Since 2020, Standard Bank has opened 100 branches despite closing 104 in 2019.
• The bank says that it hopes to expand its current footprint of 652 branches by around five percent in 2024.
• These branches are smaller and offer specialised services to clients.

Back in 2019 Standard Bank announced that it would be closing as many as 104 branches. However, just a year later, the bank began reopening branches and to date, it has opened as many as 100 new branches in the last four years.

The financial institution announced on Monday morning that it intended to increase its branch footprint of 652 in 2023 by five percent this year. The key difference here is that the branches that are being opened will be smaller.

“While we are increasing our physical presence on the ground, we are reducing our overall square metre footprint. Our branches are now more focused on providing services that our customers may require, at a location where they are,” head of Personal and Private Banking in South Africa at Standard Bank, Kabelo Makeke said in a media statement.

The idea here is that branches will be used to meet specialised needs while customers make use of digital channels for most other banking activities.

“The days when customers had to adapt to the bank are over. Today, we adapt to them, ensuring that whether they choose to interact with us digitally or face-to-face, they receive the same high standard of service,” Makeke added.

While the opening of physical branches is sure to create jobs, we have to wonder how many jobs are being created as compared to the number of jobs lost when Standard Bank shuttered 104 branches five years ago. We’ve asked Standard Bank why it decided to spend four years undoing what it did in 2019 but it didn’t respond to Hypertext’s questions by time of publication.

We suppose that access to physical branches is important as most times seeing another human face to face to can help resolve any issues you may have. Let’s hope these branches remain open.