Study: Banking agencies desert in France

Columbus Consulting has just presented the results of its latest study in partnership with OpinionWay and Finance Innovation. For the fifth year in a row, the Commission addresses the issue of retail banking and, in particular, the development of banking services and models. And the main teaching of this edition concerns the desertification of banking agencies in France.

FACTS

• Nearly a third of French (32%) have not visited their banking agency in the past 12 months, according to the study "What will be the services and models of tomorrow's bank?" on the new models and services of tomorrow's bank, published by Columbus Consulting in partnership with Opinion Way and Finance Innovation.

• 68% of the French went to the agency at least once in the year, but this figure masks a steady decline since they were 70% in 2023 and 72% in 2022. Only 8% of French people visit more than 4 times a year.

• The attendance rate falls to 57 per cent for those under 35 and 48 per cent for those 18-24.

• Concerning the reasons for visits to the agency:
  • 56% of French people go to an agency to exchange information with an advisor;
  • 43% come to deposit cheques or cash;
  • 33% carry out transactions (transfer, withdrawal, deposit...) in an agency.

ISSUES

• An increasingly digital future : New habits are carried by the youngest clients of the bank whose practices are now becoming the norm. And their expectations are mostly focused on digital services, making these channels more solutions than ever before.

• More qualitative human contact : While day-to-day and day-to-day operations are shifting massively towards digital technology, human contact remains important for many of the clients who go to the agency to discuss with their advisor their real estate project or asset management for example. Agencies thus become places of management of the key moments of life.

PERSPECTIVE

• The results of this study are, unsurprisingly, an illustration of an overall trend of decline in traffic and rationalization of networks.

• 3,296 outlets have closed in five years in France, a higher figure than the previous decade. The total number of agencies in the country increased from 39,707 to 36,411. And the trend is expected to grow further given the strategies taken by some French banks.

• BNP Paribas previews Indeed, the closure of 500 agencies by 2030 and its commercial bank will almost double its profitability by 2028. These closures are more planned in urban areas according to the bank, to streamline the network. 85% of outlets count At least seven employees by 2027.

Traduit automatiquement via Libretranslate / Automatically translated via Libretranslate