Standard bank has announced that it will be closing 104 physical location bank branches. The bank says that this move to close down physical locations is to bring the business more in line with how customers bank.
The move to close banks will see 1200 people lose their jobs, according to Business Insider. This does not only apply to Standard bank however. The global trend has seen a large number of banks being closed in recent years.
According to Standard Bank:
“We’re aligning our retail and business banking services so that you can bank at any time, from anywhere.”
With the proliferation of the internet in South Africa, more consumers do their banking online. This is nothing new in the global perspective, with banks moving their business toward online platforms. In the UK, two thirds of banks have been closed over the last 30 years. We can reasonably expect that more closing of banks will happen with the push toward online banking.
As to how this will affect the impacted employees, Standard Bank said that it would be putting measures in place to minimize the impact of the job losses.
“As part of a support programme agreed with SASBO, Standard Bank SA will implement a comprehensive exit package which significantly exceeds the requirements as set out in the Labour Relations Act,”
Standard bank also stated that they would leave branches open that would be near enough to the consumers as an alternative.
“We have also set aside funds to assist employees to acquire new skills to improve their competitiveness in the labour market, as well as entrepreneurial training and financial assistance.”
