Banks close branches as things go Digital

The digital revolution has fundamentally changed how we think about a surprising number of facets of our daily lives. Whether it’s mail service, grocery store visits or retail shopping, there are no shortage of “substitutions” for experiences which, previously, had in-volved “real” interactions. Now, however, a new era of online security and digital perfor-mance has begun to threaten the time-honoured tradition of visiting the bank for deposits, withdrawals and consultations.

A number of high street banks have begun announcing that they will cease or dramatically reduce operations in brick and mortar locations across the country. Lloyds Bank, for exam-ple, has recently declared that they are planning on closing nearly 200 branch locations due to a decrease in in-store patronage and the rising costs associated with maintaining physical branch stores.

Lloyds is not alone. Barclays, HSBC, and RBS have each announced a series of layoffs which, they claim, are due in large part to the shifting nature of bank transactions and the in-creasingly widespread adoption of online banking as a credible replacement for in-store transactions. Although it may seem somewhat callous to believe that high street banks are terminating employment opportunities in order to preserve their financial livelihood, it is im-portant to remember that the banking industry has been just as affected by start-ups and dis-rupters as various other marketplaces around the world. Given the growing number of online-only banking systems, each of which requires substantially fewer charges and expenses for account access, it has become an absolute necessity for the banking giants to change with the times.

Only time will tell if the high street banks can survive the competition posed by fast-moving startups such as Mondo and Curve Card, each of which has their sights set on extracting market share from the titans currently dominating the industry. What is for certain, however, is that technological innovation and change are now undeniable facets of the banking indus-try as much as they are any other. Consumers will, it is hoped, be the ultimate benefactors from this dynamic and volatile period of growth and increased competition. That being said, it is far too early to gauge precisely how the finance industry will cope with such existential threats to its firmly embedded methods of operation. Currency exchange software and other services which may previously have been offered will likely continue to exist. For those seek-ing a viable currency exchange softwaresolution, a number of attractive options are current-ly on the market today.