> What are the branches even for if not customer support?
Lots of physical locations make the bank seem big/safe/reputable.
Beyond that, it's sales and a place to have ATMs. I have sometimes been able to get a replacement card issued at a branch instead of waiting for one to show up in the mail.
Some branches will accommodate special requests like "can I withdraw $200... in two dollar bills" / take coin deposits but that's been increasingly rare.
My local branch has had a sign on the front door "our coin counter is broken, sorry for the inconvenience" for the past 6 months. I refuse to believe they don't have a working coin counter in a bank branch; they just don't want customers bringing in a big jars of coins.
A meeting space to discuss business services, and a terminal for people who insist on depositing cash. They are definitely not a customer support terminal.
Banks don't want to run physical branches anymore, hence why, at least in the UK all local branches are done. And central branches are all that exist.
They want to close even them because the only services they have now is ingesting cash, which is getting less and less anyway.
But yeah, any time I've gone into a branch, which they made me do a few months ago to "validate" my documents for a mortgage. Which was just scanning and uploading to their internet..., they've made me sit on the phone to their call centre.
Lots of physical locations make the bank seem big/safe/reputable.
Beyond that, it's sales and a place to have ATMs. I have sometimes been able to get a replacement card issued at a branch instead of waiting for one to show up in the mail.
Some branches will accommodate special requests like "can I withdraw $200... in two dollar bills" / take coin deposits but that's been increasingly rare.