The Bank of America branch is on the ground floor of 1111 E. Main St. (BizSense file photo)
As it looks to build a branch from scratch across from Willow Lawn and ponders additional outposts in the region, Bank of America is also working to shutter a prominent retail location downtown.
The bank confirmed plans this week to close its branch on the ground floor of the office tower that bears its name: the Bank of America Center at 1111 E. Main St.
While the branch and lobby ATM will be eliminated in May 2024, a bank spokesman said the closure won’t affect its other operations elsewhere in the building and the bank’s name will remain on the tower.
Its existing through-the-wall ATM on the building’s East Cary Street side across from Starbucks also will remain.
The office tower will continue to bear the BofA name and the bank’s non-branch operations will remain in the building. (BizSense file photo)
Customers recently were notified of the pending closure and the bank has submitted documents for the closure to federal regulators. The bank said employees of the Main Street branch will be redeployed to other nearby locations.
Its nearest remaining branches in the city are at 2601 W. Broad St. and 4101 W. Broad St.
Similar to other recent bank branch trimming in the region from Wells Fargo, Truist and others, BofA said the downtown closure is spurred by trends in customers doing more of their banking online and through ATMs.
The bank said approximately 70 percent of the transactions there are done through the ATMs. And 70 percent of that branch’s customers use the bank’s online services.
Despite its pending branch exit downtown and several other branch consolidations over the past several years, BofA emphasized that its presence in the Richmond market remains and will continue.
It is by far the market leader in terms of deposits, controlling $24.88 billion in local deposits, according to most recent FDIC statistics. That accounts for nearly half of the $57 billion in deposits across the entire Richmond market.
“We remain committed to this community, with 17 financial centers and more than 70 ATMs throughout Richmond,” BofA said in an emailed statement. “We constantly adapt our financial center and ATM networks to fit our clients’ changing needs. That includes consolidating centers where we have overlap and investing in new centers.”
It’s already in the process of investing in at least one new center in the region. Earlier this year it filed plans with Henrico County to construct a from-scratch branch at 5000 W. Broad St. across from the Willow Lawn shopping center on the site of a long-dormant Hardee’s restaurant.
The bank said similar projects are on the drawing board, particularly in the city.
“We are actively looking for other opportunities around the city to optimize our financial center network, including the addition of one to two centers over the next one to two years,” it said in a prepared statement. “An active search is also underway for an additional remote ATM in the general downtown area.”
Other local banks also are on the move with new branches.
TowneBank recently opened its first location in Short Pump. And Virginia Credit Union is on a multibranch expansion in the city, with several new locations in the works.
In other banking news, Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank announced this week its deal to acquire American National Bank in Danville.
The Bank of America branch is on the ground floor of 1111 E. Main St. (BizSense file photo)
As it looks to build a branch from scratch across from Willow Lawn and ponders additional outposts in the region, Bank of America is also working to shutter a prominent retail location downtown.
The bank confirmed plans this week to close its branch on the ground floor of the office tower that bears its name: the Bank of America Center at 1111 E. Main St.
While the branch and lobby ATM will be eliminated in May 2024, a bank spokesman said the closure won’t affect its other operations elsewhere in the building and the bank’s name will remain on the tower.
Its existing through-the-wall ATM on the building’s East Cary Street side across from Starbucks also will remain.
The office tower will continue to bear the BofA name and the bank’s non-branch operations will remain in the building. (BizSense file photo)
Customers recently were notified of the pending closure and the bank has submitted documents for the closure to federal regulators. The bank said employees of the Main Street branch will be redeployed to other nearby locations.
Its nearest remaining branches in the city are at 2601 W. Broad St. and 4101 W. Broad St.
Similar to other recent bank branch trimming in the region from Wells Fargo, Truist and others, BofA said the downtown closure is spurred by trends in customers doing more of their banking online and through ATMs.
The bank said approximately 70 percent of the transactions there are done through the ATMs. And 70 percent of that branch’s customers use the bank’s online services.
Despite its pending branch exit downtown and several other branch consolidations over the past several years, BofA emphasized that its presence in the Richmond market remains and will continue.
It is by far the market leader in terms of deposits, controlling $24.88 billion in local deposits, according to most recent FDIC statistics. That accounts for nearly half of the $57 billion in deposits across the entire Richmond market.
“We remain committed to this community, with 17 financial centers and more than 70 ATMs throughout Richmond,” BofA said in an emailed statement. “We constantly adapt our financial center and ATM networks to fit our clients’ changing needs. That includes consolidating centers where we have overlap and investing in new centers.”
It’s already in the process of investing in at least one new center in the region. Earlier this year it filed plans with Henrico County to construct a from-scratch branch at 5000 W. Broad St. across from the Willow Lawn shopping center on the site of a long-dormant Hardee’s restaurant.
The bank said similar projects are on the drawing board, particularly in the city.
“We are actively looking for other opportunities around the city to optimize our financial center network, including the addition of one to two centers over the next one to two years,” it said in a prepared statement. “An active search is also underway for an additional remote ATM in the general downtown area.”
Other local banks also are on the move with new branches.
TowneBank recently opened its first location in Short Pump. And Virginia Credit Union is on a multibranch expansion in the city, with several new locations in the works.
In other banking news, Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank announced this week its deal to acquire American National Bank in Danville.
From the perspective of longtime Richmond-based BOA client (since F&M back in the 80s), they have essentially abandoned the city proper with this closure and the closures of the Forest Hill, Lakeside, Cloverleaf, etc branches. I am done with BOA.
It may be a reflection of the change in banking habits. Much like online retailers are choking out brick&mortar vendors, more and more folks are doing their banking online. I’ve used BoA for a number of years. My paychecks are direct deposit. I can deposit physical checks via mobile device, and have gone paperless for all of my personal bills. I can’t remember the last time that I utilized an ATM, much less stepped foot in a branch.
Yeah,let’s get rid of all the banks,who needs a bank anymore.If you worked for me,your weekly paycheck would come via a bag of pennies!
The ironic poetry of the namesake. Just like the eponym; scarcely recognizable and present if not only in name.
I take it they will decommission the drive-thru that goes under the building’s plaza as well? I seem to remember there being an ATM down there, but I ditched BOA so long ago I may be misremembering what is there.