Truist shuttering five more branches in the Charlotte area. Is your location closing?
Truist is closing five additional Charlotte-area branches, the bank confirmed Tuesday, as it wraps up post-merger consolidation plans.
“With so many heritage BB&T and SunTrust branches in close proximity to one another, there are natural opportunities to reduce redundant branches with very little impact to our clients,” the bank said in a statement about the closures.
Truist is being “thoughtful” in its approach, it said.
Truist, the Charlotte-based combination of BB&T and SunTrust, is closing a total of 15 Charlotte-area locations as part of its post-merger plans to address overlaps in the two former banks’ branch networks. The bank confirmed ten other closures last fall.
Here are the five branches set to close in March, the bank confirmed Tuesday:
- 2211 W. Arbors Drive, Charlotte
- 700 W. King St., Kings Mountain
- 507 W. Innes St., Salisbury
- 1908 Old Charlotte Hwy., Monroe
118 N. Main St., Belmont
Truist is targeting 800 total closures across its markets by the end of March. It still has just under half that number to go, according to its fourth quarter earning presentation.
It’s one of the final stages of the bank’s post-merger integration plans. As part of the bank’s “core conversion” to the Truist name this quarter, customers will see the BB&T and SunTrust’s old red and blue logos switched out for the new bank’s signs splashed across the Southeast.
The bank is also shrinking its headcount and real estate, in addition to finalizing the rollout of its new digital platforms. Customers can plan to say goodbye to SunTrust and BB&T later this month.
Other major banks closing branches
Truist isn’t the only major bank in Charlotte that’s shrinking its retail footprint.
Bank of America, based here in Charlotte, is shuttering a handful of branches locally. It’s part of the bank’s pre-pandemic plans to optimize its branch network. Most recently, the bank has filed paperwork with regulators to close a location on Carmel Road.
And Wells Fargo has closed hundreds of branches in the last year as part of it cost-cutting efforts. The bank recently closed is Southpark Mall night depository.
The shift to digital banking, accelerated by the pandemic, has led many banks to reevaluate their brick-and-mortar presence.
“There’s not really a sense of when banks are going to stop closing branches,” said Jason Richardson, director of research at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, told the Observer this month. “How many bank branches do you really need, if you’re a mid-range regional bank with 80 branches right now, and three quarters of your consumers are working online anyway?”
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 5:26 PM.
