April 29--There were 300 fewer U.S. bank branches in the first quarter, and 24 fewer in Illinois, according to a newly released analysis.
SNL Financial, a Charlottesville, Va.-based tracker of banking industry data, found that 221 bank branches opened nationally in the first quarter, while 553 closed.
That still left the nation with 94,109 bank branches.
The leading net closer nationally was Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank. It had 38 net closures nationally.
Earlier this month, PNC said about half of its retail customers used nonteller channels for most of their transactions in the first quarter. A spokeswoman said it was the first time that nonteller transactions reached the 50 percent mark.
In Illinois, 12 new bank branches opened and 36 closed in the first quarter.
Michigan lost 28 net branches in the first quarter. That was the most of any state.
For the year ended March 31, U.S. banks and thrifts opened 1,023 branches and closed 2,464, SNL said.
Those totals exclude credit unions
byerak@tribpub.com
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