Filenews 5 May 2025 - by Theano Thiopoulou
The situation in the banking system has changed drastically in recent years with the closure of branches and mergers, while the realignments continue with the diversification of the growth strategy, fewer branches and digitalization of transactions.
From 2013 until today, the Cypriot banking map has been greatly diversified, since in addition to Laiki Bank, the Cooperative was closed, while now Hellenic Bank, which in the past incorporated the Co-operative, belongs to the Greek Eurobank group.
In addition, RCB handed over its banking license, Alpha Bank acquired Emporiki Bank in 2014 and is now going to acquire Astrobank which acquired USB Bank.
According to the data of the Association of Banks for 2024, which is collected on an annual basis and presented by F", it shows to what extent some changes have been made compared to 2023.
If we go back a few years and comparisons are made, the magnitude of the changes that reflect the rapid shrinkage of the branch network and the reduction of staff is highlighted.
The first shock that shook the banking system was in 2013. In 2020 with the COVID pandemic, came the second wave of change that put digitalization in customers' lives and the transformation began, which led to a new shrinkage of the banking network and a reduction in bank employees through generous voluntary exit plans.
According to the annual report of the Association of Banks for the period 2012-2013, there were 12 members, which had 9,273 staff, 384 branches and 423 ATMs. In 2023, the Association had 10 members, which had 6,477 staff, 162 stores and 336 ATMs. In 2024, the Association had 10 members which had 158 stores, 6,525 employees and 332 ATMs.
