Boca Raton, Fla. — “It’s complicated” is the best way to describe retail banks’ views of their physical branches.

The confusion is a direct result of shifting consumer behavior.

Branches matter less to banking customers than in years past because of technology advancements, but physical bank locations still remain relevant to consumers when they are first establishing relationships with FIs, said a number of panelists at this week’s Retail Financial Services Symposium.

But needing a branch doesn’t mean that the branch will make money for a bank.

Indeed, there may be up to 16,000 branches that are unprofitable today, said Sherief Meleis, managing director at consultancy Novantas LLC. To be fair, that number could potentially decline if and when interest rates rise, Meleis said.

One reason why branches might be losing revenue is simply because their traffic is diminishing as consumers opt to use newer communication channels like mobile and online to interact with their banks instead.

“Branches are part of the mix, but no longer core to the banking relationship,” said Brett King, founder and chairman of yet-to-be-born online bank Movenbank, during his keynote.

When banks ask King how they can get customers back into their bank branches, King said he responds with another question: How would you get them back into Blockbuster?

Nonetheless, some banks continue to tout their branches as a reason why consumers should and do bank with them. Take TD Bank, for example. The bank, which provides services to more than 7.4 million customers in the U.S., boasts about 1,300 stores that generally stay open longer hours than many of its banking competitors. TD touts its flexible store hours as a reason why consumers bank with it.

“Our bet is customers will continue to come into our stores,” said Brian Haier, executive vice president of regional retail banking and direct channels, during a panel. “For us, it’s about service and convenience.”

Nonetheless, Haier doesn’t view banking distribution channels as growing up separately from one another. Rather, the future of banking should be like the future of retailing: A consumer might start an interaction with a bank online, continue the dialog with its call center and finish his transaction at a physical store. TD is working on better integrating its banking channels, he said.

Even the choice of speakers at the Retail Financial Services Symposium was “complicated.” Among the featured speakers was John McCoy, the retired chairman and chief executive of Bank One Corp., which was long ago purchased by JP Morgan Chase.

“You need a physical presence,” McCoy said, during a panel. “That’s where people open accounts.”

Well, kind of. Many people still open their accounts at the branch. Many, but not all.

Roseburg, Ore.-based Umpqua Bank, meanwhile, chose to innovate the customer experience in its physical stores more than 10 years ago to keep customers coming into its doors.

“Our stores are community centers,” said Ray Davis, Umpqua’s chief executive and president.

In an effort to encourage consumers to shop and browse, the bank offers non-bank like activities at its stores. For example, at one Umpqua store consumers will come in to practice yoga, while another store hosts a bowling tournament, Davis said.

“We are always trying to evolve and improve the customer experience,” he said.