Some of the largest banks in the country are pulling back on their physical footprints and pushing ahead with the digital experience in light of their Q3 earnings.

Truist Bank, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo — three of the top six biggest banks — are closing branch locations, or mulling the future of branches temporarily closed by the pandemic, in a bid to cut operating costs and lean on the digital marketplace, according to a handful of earnings calls this week.

“Digital remains a focused investment area for us and as more activity moves to the digital channel, that will drive customer loyalty and top line growth, as well as cost savings and efficiency opportunities,” said Andy Cecere, president and CEO of U.S. Bank.

Truist Bank

Truist, for one, is planning to close 104 branches by January.

“We continue to see strong growth in digital banking,” Chief Financial Officer Daryl Bible said in an earnings call Thursday, noting that the bank’s acceleration in new accounts was driven by the bank’s digital offerings. Truist added 56,000 new accounts last quarter, compared with 15,000 in the second quarter.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reported a 21% year-over-year jump in digital commerce growth to $474,000, while active users on the bank’s mobile app bumped up 8% to 3.86 million YoY. Truist ranked as the most innovative institution on Bank Innovation‘s FI Innovation Rankings, which determines the top 25 most innovative banks and credit unions by asset size in the U.S.

U.S. Bank

The digital marketplace has become a focus for U.S. Bank, with more than half of all the bank’s loan sales conducted online.

“We saw an acceleration of digital transactions and sales. And that only accelerated during the COVID period,” Cecere said during the bank’s Wednesday earnings call.

The Minneapolis-based bank announced it has already closed 10% of its 2,895 branches, and intends to shutter an additional 15% in early 2021.

“Our alliance with State Farm, which brings our digital banking capabilities together with over 1,900 State Farm agents, is an example of how we can meaningfully expand our reach in a low-cost, highly efficient way,” Cecere added.

Truist and U.S. Bank’s branch strategy differs from its peer, JPMorgan Chase, which confirmed plans this week to proceed with new branch openings after receiving approval to add locations in all 48 lower states.

Wells Fargo

Meanwhile, 900 Wells Fargo branches, about 18% of its footprint, remain temporarily closed due to the pandemic and the bank has yet to confirm whether they will reopen or permanently shut down. The bank has reopened some branches since the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said on the bank’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday.

Last quarter, the bank consolidated 77 branches to 5,229 branches, shrinking 3% YoY. The San Francisco-based institution currently has 32 million active digital users, up 6% YoY.

To further compete in the digital space, Wells Fargo’s executive team hired Ather Williams in July to lead its Strategy, Digital and Innovation Department. Williams, formerly of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, is responsible for managing innovation priorities, opportunities and “companywide efforts to drive transformation,” said CEO Charlie Scharf on the call.

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