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Alex - I'm not wrong. I've covered off in detail exactly the issue you are talking about, which is when you ask customers they say they want branches, but they never use them! Thus, the economics of branch banking are doomed to fail. You can't support the cost of branches if no one is entering them - and THAT is unequivocally what the data has been telling us is the trend since 2008. 

At a certain point the industry will simply be unable to sustain branches in anything but very high density population areas, unless they are essentially 1-2 person pop-up branches.

The outcome is the same. Massive reduction in branch numbers, square footage, activity and a strong reliance on digital for the vast majority of revenue and relationship with customers.  

Katharaman,

Are you suggesting that the largest ever single year decline in branch activity means it is business as normal for banks? I have said hundreds of times, and I said again in my last post, that branches are no longer the most important channel in banking and will simply become support channels for bank brands, but they aren't required for neo or challenger banks. I have never said every branch will disappear - never. I have said that the role of branches will no longer be central to banking, and that is what I classify as the death of branch banking as we know it. I believe that we see ample evidence of that thesis now. If you can't see that, then you are ignoring the signs just as blockbuster, borders, and others did before them.

My guess is nuance is a word you are unfamiliar with.  

Ketharaman? ;)

Katharaman - I'd be happy to share with you my new book Augmented. I looked at 250 years of technology disruption from the steam engine through to FinTech and concluded that in all that time, there was not one example of an industry that survived intact without having to change their business model as a result of new technology being introduced.

Western Union, the world's largest telecommunications company in 1880 survived. You could not say they weren't disrupted as a telecoms player.  

Ketharaman,

Your figures on cash usage are long out of date. FT reports a 4% decline in just the last 12 months. 

ECommerce is growing at 18x the rate of retail space usage, so don't obfuscate the success of digital.

You made a claim about my predictions - I backed up my track record with an exhaustive list of very specific predictions and the outcomes 5-6 years later. The record speaks for itself, versus a very general attack on "Death of [everything]" claim you made.

I see you did not respond to my blog post. If you are going to attack, next time do so on facts and not on emotion...

BK 

Dean - I did see that, and I thank you for that clarification

BK

Katharaman,

Given that you called me out as having failed in my predictions, I've done you the honor of responding with my prediction scorecard in a blog:

https://www.finextra.com/blogs/fullblog.aspx?blogid=12019

I'm sure you'll find a few more that I missed if you look hard enough...

BK 

There are two types of people in the world - those who do the disrupting, and those who don't realize they are disrupted till its too late

Well, what a surprise!

@Finextra Member

I agree in-branch experience is broken. 50-70% of IT Spending within banks right now is going into compliance, and not fixing customer experience. it's why teller still have to typically navigate 6 different screens and can't get a up-to-date credit card balance without calling the same call centre we call. 

Your (typical) frustration is another reason for migration, especially as next-gen mobile apps and internet banking are easier to use to solve a problem versus an actual person hampered by the bank's own systems and processes