Bank branch closings are uneven by region

In Midwest, 1,674 closed; in Southeast, 460 shut down.

Banks have been shedding branches like last year’s shoes, but they’re still more fashionable with smaller banks and in some regions than others.

Since 2009, U.S. banks have closed 8,849 branches, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, a business data service.

The data shows some quirky regional differences in how banks are deciding whether to keep or close their branches.

The Midwest had the largest number of branch closings since 2006 — 1,674 — while the Southeast accounted for 460 closings over that period, according to S&P.

In the western U.S. — ground zero for tech-savvy customers in places like Silicone Valley, Seattle and Boulder — banks have closed only 63 branches in the past decade. Banks in the Southwest opened 403 new branches over the past decade, according to S&P’s data.

The great wave of branch closings began with consolidation and bank failures during and after the Great Recession. But branches have continued to be shut down at an even faster clip in recent years — hitting a peak of 1,766 closings last year — as banks have kept up the cost-cutting and customers have switched to online and mobile banking.

Smaller banks — those with less than $1 billion in assets — have been slower to shed branches, S&P noted. Since 2009, those banks have closed 611 branches, less than 3 percent of their current total.

Larger banks have closed more than 10 percent of branches since 2009, according to S&P’s data.

Bank experts say much of the consolidation has resulted because of the popularity of online banking, debit cards especially among the under-40 crowd.