Instead of opening new brick and mortar branches, banks are plowing the money they save into new technology that customers prefer, according to SNL Financial.
Between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014, the number of bank branches in the U.S. dropped 1.68% from 96,329 in 2013 to 94,715 in 2014, the Charlottesville, Va.-based financial data firm reported.
SNL Financial said it cited the FDIC's annual summary of deposits for the data.
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Even though the number of bank branches has declined every year since 2009, SNL reported that 2013 to 2014 represented the greatest year over year branch loss since 1994.
The firm interviewed bank executives who said that their institutions were taking the money they used to spend on branches and spending it on developing stronger online and mobile apps.
SNL Financial also reported that a number of branch closings have been the result of mergers that sometimes left two branches of the new institution too close together, which forced the closure of one of them.
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