To those of you who bank locally with one of America’s larger financial institutions: You’re being watched.
Your bank is monitoring your behavior, keeping tabs on how you access its services, and the future of its drive-through lanes might be hanging in the balance.
Over the past two years, in fact, Bank of America has closed its drive-through lanes at all three of its Vero Beach branches, citing “changing customer habits” that include an increase and online and mobile banking.
Last year, JPMorgan Chase Bank discontinued its drive-through service at its branch at 12th Street and U.S. 1, opting instead for new-and-improved, drive-up ATMs capable of handling many of the same transactions.
Again, customer behavior prompted the change.
“We are continuously looking at our branch network to see what makes sense and make adjustments according to how our customers bank today,” Chase spokesperson Maribel Ferrer said. “We look at how many customers prefer ATMs, how many prefer drive-throughs and whether it’s an inconvenient location.
“It’s not a blanket policy,” she added. “We do it on a case-by-case basis, and we continue to monitor each branch. Drive-through tellers are available at three nearby branches, and all four branches in Vero have drive-up ATMs.”
Bank of America spokesman Matthew Daily echoed Ferrer’s explanation for the drive-through closures here, saying local customers can access their accounts through ATMs, walk-in branches, online and mobile devices.
“We also have drive-up ATMs at our Miracle Mile and Kings Highway financial centers,” he said, adding, “We see more customers using online and mobile banking. As more use those options, fewer are using drive-through lanes.”
Daily said the move away from drive-through lanes is not company-wide, but the bank expects to see a steady increase in the use of its advanced ATMs, which are equipped with video cameras that allow customers to talk to tellers throughout the U.S.
According to Bank of America:
Currently, 32 million of its customers access their accounts via mobile banking, online banking or both.
More than 18 million customers are actively using the bank’s mobile banking platform, and active mobile customers grew at a rate of more than 5,500 users per day in 2015.
“The trend in banking is toward more customer convenience,” PNC Bank spokesman Fred Solomon said. “And, in general, the move toward online, mobile and other non-teller channels has been driven by customer preference.
“In the third quarter, of all non-teller transactions at PNC, 45 percent were done online,” he added. “That’s up from 36 percent in the third quarter of 2014 – 53 percent of our customers rarely walk into a branch, up from 47 percent last year.
“Those are significant increases over the past year, and it’s continuing to grow.”
Yet PNC continues to operate drive-through lanes at six of its seven Vero Beach branches, including its Beachland Boulevard and Causeway locations on the island, and has no plans to close any of them.
The reason?
“Drive-throughs remain a customer preference at PNC,” Solomon said. “Our customers tend to prefer drive-through tellers and drive-up ATMs, especially since we’ve made a move toward ATMs that have greater functionality.
“I can’t say (closing drive-through lanes) isn’t going to happen someday, but that’s not the trend for us,” he added. “Even when PNC has consolidated branches, the branch with the drive-throughs and drive-ups has been the remaining branch.”
Those who bank at Wells Fargo can rest easy, too: A spokesperson said the bank has no plans to close the drive-through lanes at any of its local branches.
Stuart-based Seacoast Bank, however, closed an entire branch Monday, when it shuttered its 1206 U.S. 1 location.
As for the other local banks, no drive-through lane closures are planned – especially at Marine Bank & Trust, the only bank headquartered in Indian River County.
“What we’ve found is that our customers like the convenience and they want the personal touch,” Marine Bank President and CEO Bill Penney said. “Besides, we like our customers. They’re very nice people and we like to see them, whether they come into the bank or drive through.”
Penney said he believes the larger national banks are steering customers toward online and mobile banking to cut costs.
“The big banks would rather have customers go to the internet, rather than have personal interaction,” he said. “Transaction costs online are cheaper than in-person at the bank. So, in my opinion, the big banks are testing the waters, seeing if this is a way to cut back on employees.”
“We have no intention of closing our drive-throughs,” he added.