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Philipp Gossow, who oversees the retail banking business in
Germany, told Reuters that the reduction to some 400 branches
from around 500 currently would occur primarily in urban
locations and take place "as quickly as possible".
The cull comes as Deutsche Bank undergoes a broad overhaul of
its global operations that begun in 2019 after years of losses.
German banks traditionally operate a large number of branches
compared to those in the Netherlands or Britain, where customers
are more comfortable with digital offerings. Banks throughout
Europe are rethinking their branch strategies in the wake of the
coronavirus crisis.
Deutsche's cross-town rival Commerzbank recently opted to shut
200 of its 1,000 branches and is considering closing hundreds
more.
Gossow was expected to elaborate on the plans at a banking
conference on Tuesday.
"Coronavirus has further changed the demands placed on advisory
services and the branch business," Gossow said.
"Even customers who were previously not very familiar with
online banking are now doing many simple banking transactions
from home on their computer or iPad," he said.
More complex advisory services are taking place increasingly by
phone or video chat, he said, adding the bank would invest an
undisclosed amount to build out those services.
(Writing by Tom Sims; Editing by Michelle Adair)
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