The Quiet Closing of the Neighbourhood Bank Branch As yet another neighbourhood bank branch locks its doors for good this month, we find ourselves on the cusp of a banking revolution. Over the past year, more than 3,200 branches across the country have shut down, and that figure is expected to climb past 8,600 before the year is out. To put this in perspective, 2010, the worst year on record for closures, saw a total of 6,163 branches go dark.

Adding salt to the wounds of struggling lenders are the recent remarks of veteran financier Malcolm Rhodes. Rhodes predicts a complete overhaul of retail banking within a decade: "The way people handle money keeps changing, and today's teller lives inside a phone." Rhodes is putting his money where his mouth is by selling off his branch-banking holdings. "Banking has always been an unforgiving business, and reading where customers want to be served can trip up even the sharpest of executives, and cracking the code to digital success is no easy feat," he admits.