Neither network nor stand up – Kommersant

For the first time in more than two years, the number of Sberbank branches turned out to be less than the total number of branches of other banks. This happened against the background of the ongoing reduction of the network of branches of the largest Russian bank, while a number of other large credit institutions are increasing the number of branches. In particular, this is what the PSB does in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

As of May 1, the number of additional offices of all Russian banks, excluding Sberbank, reached 12.09 thousand, exceeding the number of offices of the latter (12.07 thousand), according to the statistics of the Central Bank (.xlsx).

This happened for the first time since the beginning of 2021 as a result, among other things, of the reduction of Sberbank’s branch network. In recent months, it has been decreasing by 40–60 offices per month, and in September 2022, by 527 branches at once (see “Kommersant” dated October 13, 2022). The last time the increase in branches (for a symbolic seven offices) at Sberbank, according to Central Bank dataobserved in December 2019.

In January-April, the Sberbank network decreased by 186 branches, taking into account the registration of eight new offices, including two in the Crimea. At the same time, other banks increased the number of offices by 122.

In particular, in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions since the beginning of the year, the total number of bank offices has increased by 136, reaching 349 as of early May. Almost all of these are branches of the PSB. According to the Central Bank website, the bank has 347 additional offices, of which 169 are in the DPR, 124 in the LPR, and 54 in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

Among those who increased the network in Russia was Alfa-Bank, said Alexander Linnikov, chairman of the board of the National Payment Council Association. “This means that traditional banking services that involve personal communication with customers remain in demand. This is necessary in those territories where the quality of communication and the availability of the Internet have not yet reached the national level. But, in addition, there is also private banking, where, regardless of the quality of the connection, the importance of personal communication is extremely high,” the expert explains.

Sberbank explained that in rural areas they are replacing stationary offices with alternative service formats (mobile offices, ATMs, cash withdrawal service at cash desks in stores) in case of a long-term impossibility to select premises or staff. In the case of cities, the bank added, “if an office has a low client flow, and there is a larger one within walking distance, which employs a larger staff and provides a greater range of products and services, the services of such an office are transferred to a larger neighboring one.”

The existing workload of offices is not very high, and, probably, their number will continue to decrease, Viktor Dostov, chairman of the Association of Electronic Money Market Participants and Money Transfers, expects. “Especially if the task of opening accounts remotely and carrying out other significant actions via videoconferencing and other remote methods is solved,” he says.

In addition, experts say, the profitability of bank offices is falling. Olga Blednova, director of the practice for providing consulting services to financial sector companies at Kept, identifies two reasons: the digitalization of sales and service channels, as well as the desire of customers to receive fast service and service, which leads to an increase in requests in remote channels. “Banks have focused on the transformation of the office network, including its reduction, or rather, a conscious presence,” she emphasizes.

Banks evaluate the client flow and the feasibility of maintaining network points, product groups, including non-financial services that can cover the client’s needs in physical channels, the expert adds. She sees the optimal model as “creating new physical channel value for customers to avoid competing with digital channels.” However, the expert notes the importance of the presence of banks offline, for “shaping the general feeling of the brand itself.”

Olga Sherunkova, Maxim Buylov