Filenews 6 September 2021 - by Theano Thiopoulou
About 300 branches were closed by the banks in five years and significant changes were made to staffing with voluntary retirement plans and the retirement of employees. From 2015 to 2020, 2,475 bank employees have left the profession and the administrations have closed 284 branches. Based on the 2020 annual report of the Association of Banks presented by "F" and in view of the annual general meeting on September 8, which will take place online as last year due to the pandemic, the rapid shrinking of the branch network and the reduction of staff through generous voluntary retirement plans are reflected.
At the general assembly of the Association speeches will be made by the Minister of Finance Konstantinos Petrides, the Governor of the Central Bank Konstantinos Herodotou and the CEO of the European Banking Federation, Wim Mijs (Dutch in origin, based in Brussels, where the offices of the European Banking Federation are located).
The comparative data captures the dramatic contraction in bank customer service points, which continues as banks try to streamline their operations and move on to an even larger scale into the digital age. The situation in the banking system has changed dramatically in recent years with the closure of branches and mergers, while the upheavals continue with the diversification of the growth strategy. Since 2015, another significant change has occurred with the closure of the Cooperative And the absorption of good assets by Hellenic Bank. The transition to the new digital era has precipitated transactions in the bank branch and indicative of the changes is the spread of technology in a COVID environment.
Based on the data of the Association of Banks for 2020, the main data of credit institutions are the following:
● Bank of Cyprus: Number of branches 84, ATM 154, employees 3,158.
● Hellenic Bank: Number of branches 83, ATM 193, employees 2,722.
● Alpha Bank: Number of branches 17, ATM 22, employees 509.
● Eurobank Cyprus: Number of branches 8, ATMs 0, employees 431.
● RCB Bank: Number of branches 8, ATM 8, employees 339.
● Astrobank: Number of branches 17, ATM 17, employees 441.
● Ancoria: Number of stores 3, ATM 5, employees 95.
● National Bank of Cyprus: Number of branches 9, ATM 12, employees 229.
● CDB Bank: Number of branches 2, ATM 2, number of employees 141
● Societe Generale Cyprus: Number of stores 3, ATM 3, employees 110.
Every last year and more
Even if the comparison of 2020 is made with 2019 it seems that banks every year close one or more branches. The Bank of Cyprus closed two branches, 31 Hellenic, 5 Alpha Bank, 1 Societe Generale and in the rest the number remained stable. It is of course worth clarifying that the 2020 data does not include the shrinking of the NBG network and the voluntary departure of staff. The voluntary exit plan will be completed in early October with the gradual departure of the 139 employees The Bank's customers were informed by e-mail that NBG will maintain only two branches in Cyprus and were asked to make the appropriate arrangements as only two branches will remain in operation, one in Nicosia and one in Limassol.
ATMs per bank
The Bank with the most ATMs in 2020, based on the report of the Association of Banks, is the Hellenic Bank with the number reaching 193 and in 2019 it was 183. It is followed by the Bank of Cyprus with 154 ATMs in 2020 and in 2019 it was 158. In Alpha Bank Cyprus, ATMs were 22 in 2020 from 25 in 2019, in RCB Bank 8 from 9 in 2020, in Societe Cyprus 3 from 4 in 2019. For the remaining credit institutions there were no changes in the number of ATMs.
According to the annual report, the member banks of the Association of Commercial Banks employ about 9,000 professionals and own a market with a share of more than 90% locally in lending and deposits. Apart from the banks, there are also the asset management companies that employ employees for the management of problematic loans: KEDIPES, Altamira, B2 Kapital, Gordian, Alpha Crediu Acquisition Company, Themis.
