Bank of America opens branches without employees

[February 08, 2017]  By Dan Freed

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp has opened three completely automated branches over the past month, where customers can use ATMs and have video conferences with employees at other branches, according to spokeswoman Anne Pace.

Like many U.S. banks in recent years, Bank of America has been reducing its overall branch count to cut costs even as it opens new branches in select markets. New branches are typically smaller, employ more technology, and are aimed at selling mortgages, credit cards and auto loans rather than simple transactions such as cashing checks.

Pace said there is one completely automated branch in Minneapolis and one in Denver, both of which are relatively new markets for the bank's consumer business. They are about a quarter of the size of a typical branch.

A Bank Of America sign is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York August 21, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

The new branches were mentioned briefly Tuesday by Dean Athanasia, co-head of Bank of America's consumer banking unit, during a question and answer session at an investor conference, but he did not provide details.

Athanasia said Bank of America will open 50 to 60 new branches over the next year, though Pace said the bank will also be closing branches in certain markets, so the 50 to 60 branches do not represent a net increase. Bank of America opened 31 new branches in 2016.

Bank of America had 4,579 financial centers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to 4,726 in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 5,900 at the end of 2010.

(Reporting by Dan Freed in New York; editing by Clive McKeef)

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