[단독] Bank stores, Dobong-gu, are two times smaller than Gangnam-gu

Input 2021.01.12 10:40

In the process of reducing offline sales networks by commercial banks, it was found that there was a large variation between regions. In business-oriented areas and high-income residential areas, the extent of branch reduction was small, while in old downtown areas where residents’ income was relatively low or the proportion of the elderly was high, the number of branches decreased significantly. The phenomenon of’poor, poor and rich’ in accessibility to bank branches has intensified.

The Shinhan Bank branch in Dobong-gu, Seoul is one of the best examples of recent bank branch reductions. Until 2015, there were 8 Shinhan Bank branches (including branch offices) in this area. However, by 2020, it was cut in half into four. At least one is located inside the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office. Excluding this, it has decreased from 7 to 3. Currently, the remaining places are in front of Ssangmun and Changdong subway stations, respectively, and near Banghak intersection.

On the other hand, Shinhan Bank expanded its branches in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. In 2015, there were 52 Shinhan Bank branches in Gangnam-gu, but by 2020, it increased to 56. From the standpoint of Shinhan Bank customers who are not familiar with electronic finance, if they live in Dobong-gu, they have to go to the subway station to access banking, the residents of Gangnam-gu would be a little more convenient than before.

The situation of other banks is similar to that of Shinhan Bank. The number of commercial bank branches in Dobong-gu decreased 32.4% from 37 in 2015 to 25 last year. In the case of Gangnam-gu at the same time, only 16.0% decreased from 356 to 299. The bank branch ratio jumped from 9.6 to 1 to 12.0 to 1.

Chosun Biz analyzed the status of regional restructuring with a list of branches of 17 commercial banks nationwide held by the Federation of Banks. Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank (including Korea Exchange Bank in 2015), SC First Bank, Citibank Korea, local banks, NH Nonghyup Bank, Suhyup Bank, Industrial Bank, Korea Development Bank, Export-Import Bank, etc. 17 places were the targets. As of June 2015, there were 7318 bank branches, but in June 2020, there were 6591, a decrease of 727. As a percentage, it is 9.9%.

When looking at the restructuring of banks, it was found that branch offices were intensively reduced in the old cities of Seoul and metropolitan cities and in areas with low average resident income. In the case of Seoul, from 2390 in 2015 to 2000 in 2020, a decrease of 16.6% (390). Excluding Incheon, the five metropolitan cities decreased by 9.7% (160) from 1560 to 1400. The number of branches decreased by 6.9% in Incheon and Gyeonggi-do and 4.4% in the provinces.

In Seoul, the largest decreases based on the extent of the decline were Dobong-gu and Gangbuk-gu (-32.4%, respectively). After that, the number of branches decreased significantly in Dongjak-gu (-28.1%), Seongbuk-gu (-27.6%), and Dongdaemun-gu (-25.6%). On the other hand, the decline was small in Gangseo-gu (0.0%), Yongsan-gu (-3.6%), Mapo-gu and Seongdong-gu (-10.0% each), and Songpa-gu (-10.6%). It means fewer branches in an emerging middle-class residential area called’ma, dragon, and castle’. Gangseo-gu and Songpa-gu are also areas with many new large-scale apartment complexes including the Magok district.

Looking at the metropolitan cities, the number of branches installed in the old downtown area has decreased significantly. The representative example is Jung-gu, Daejeon, where the number of branches decreased by 34.4% from 32 to 21. Busan Jung-gu (-28.2%), Incheon Michuhol-gu (-21.4%), Daegu Nam-gu (-20.8%), Daegu Dong-gu (-17.0%), and Daejeon Seo-gu (-16.9%) are all counted as old downtown areas. As the old city center declines, it looks like bank branches are being pulled out.

The problem is that the proportion of elderly people is relatively high in these regions. The average age of residents in Gangbuk-gu and Dobong-gu, Seoul, is 46.2 and 45.5, respectively, making it the most aging area among 25 autonomous districts in Seoul. The average age of Jung-gu, Busan, is 50.2 years old, which is the second most severe aging after Ganghwa-gun (52.8 years old) among municipalities under the metropolitan city.

An official in the financial industry pointed out, “As banks accelerate branch restructuring with the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), there is a high possibility that the problem of access to finance for the elderly and low-income families will arise.”

Considering the scale of the number of stores by bank, Hana Bank reduced its branches from 950 including KEB to 680. The reduction rate was 28.6%. After the merger with KEB, it is interpreted as the effect of rearranging overlapping stores. The next is SC First Bank (-18.1%), which reduced from 260 to 210.

Woori Bank (-11.5%) decreased from 970 to 860, and Kookmin Bank (-11.2%) decreased from 1150 to 1020. Local banks such as Jeonbuk Bank (-1.0%), Daegu Bank (-4.8%), Gyeongnam Bank (-5.6%), and Busan Bank (-6.7%) had small store cuts. Gwangju Bank (5.1%) rather increased its branches.