Larger banks will lose the bank branch faster than their smaller counterparts, but overall, the physical bank is going to stick around a while longer.

Big banks are going to lead in “pruning” the branch networks, while smaller financial institutions will focus on using these physical locations to grow consumer presence, according to a report released today by Celent, as part of its Branch Transformation Panel series.

From the report:

Indeed, new branch builds may be increasingly difficult to justify. But from the perspective of community financial institutions with growth ambitions, establishing a physical presence in new markets as a mechanism for growing the franchise is entirely defensible.

About 63% of bigger banks believe they will have 2% to 6% less branches in two years’ time, according to Celent, compared to 18% of smaller banks (those with less than $10 billion in assets). 36% of smaller banks are actually expecting to add 8% more branches in the next two years; larger FIs said they do not expect to add any branches in that same period of time.

The report, which surveyed 38 financial institutions, notes that customer relationships are still the number one driving force for most banks.