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Bank of America could cut 10% of its 6,100 branches

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By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS

The Associated Press

Published: July 29, 2009

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp. could eventually shrink its 6,100-branch network by about 10 percent as consumers choose other methods of banking, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
Bank of America spokesman James Mahoney made the comments when asked about a published report that CEO Ken Lewis and another bank executive described such a plan to investors at a meeting last week in Charlotte, N.C., where the bank is based.

The move would be a pullback from the bank's two-decade expansion, most recently under Lewis' command, which expanded the bank from coast to coast.
Bank of America lists 50 Tampa Bay area banking centers on its Web site.

The Wall Street Journal said in Tuesday's edition that a bank executive cited changing customer preferences for the move and noted more people are using online and mobile banking.

However, Richard Bove of Rochdale Research said the reason for the closures is both economic and regulatory.

"While the bank is likely to close the branches, the reason being given is simply farcical," Bove wrote in a research note Tuesday. "The branches will be closed because they are not economically viable."

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