Banks are changing: they are closing branches, there are fewer employees and more digital services

The new normalcy that the world is going through two years after the start of the pandemic is being experienced with changes in the financial system. Although most banks say you did not close branches At this time, nor does it plan to do so in the near future, another model of customer service offices will appear in the urban landscape.

According to data from the latest Financial Inclusion Report, published by the Central Bank at the end of last month, last year 56 bank branches were closed, that from 5,275 in December 2020 nationwide to 5,219 in December. Along with this, “Access points to the financial system” for Argentines have doubled since the end of 2016.

Accelerated by pandemic, lDigitalization has changed the banking business. In the larger scale of procedures conducted through virtual channels, the physical branches of entities have evolved from transaction spaces to points of advice or consultation.

Although the massive presence of cash, in an economy like Argentina with a high level of informality, puts a ceiling on digitization, banks are redirecting their business model to this paradigm. This is not a local phenomenon: as the Central Bank noted in that report “on a global level there is a trend towards a progressive reduction in the number of branches as a result of the growth of digital financial services and a strategy of entities “.

In countries like Spain or Great Britain, the recession of banking in the physical world has been a reality for many years. According to data from the European Central Bank (ECB), from 2016 to 2020 only the number of customer service premises on the old continent decreased by 20%. Only in Spain did the banking scenario change and entities closed one in every three branches at the same time.

While banks acknowledge that they are changing their business model, employees are not confident in the new scenario. By the end of 2021, the Banking Association denounced Banco Santander’s plan to close at least 100 customer service offices, but the initiative was rejected by the Spanish-owned company.

A source from the union group told this newspaper that there was no layoff in the sector, but agreements of the parties or pre-retirement. “The reasons are various, technological progress, the pandemic or the maximization of profits that banks are looking for.” Official data supports these claims.

Also based on official information compiled by the Central Bank, it will be known that last year, the top ten banks in the local financial system reduced their staff by a total of 1,835 jobs.

The bleeding looks even bigger if you look at the staff that banks had when Alberto Fernández’s presidency began: in December 2019 there were 49,525 people working in financial institutions, a number that dropped to 45,791 in September last year, the latest data was available.

The fact is that many branches have been remodeled: with fewer customers on checkout lines, designs are prioritizing open and “work” spaces, where employees can “provide advice “to customers on how to use both digital channels, while offering them help regarding managing their money.

The new profiles sought by financial institutions have also changed: accounting practices are no longer a priority those related to programming, customer experience and design. In a weak voice, in entities they say that these changes have been adapted to the new needs of clients. Thus, banks are competing for talent in fintech, an almost new sector in the country with between 20,000 and 22,000 related jobs.