The Columbus market is losing three bank branches, with Wells Fargo closing two offices in the coming weeks and Regions Bank poised to shutter one location this week.
The Southeast regional office of Wells Fargo in Atlanta confirmed the San Francisco-based company is pulling the plug on its branch at 1000 18th St. in Columbus and its office at 2305 Lee Road 430 in Smiths Station, Ala., just north of Phenix City.
“Based on changes in customer behavior across Columbus, Wells Fargo will move out of its Medical Center branch location on 18th Street on Sept. 26, 2018, and Smiths Station branch on Lee Road 430 on Nov. 14, 2018,” Jamee Lawson Nelson, Wells Fargo assistant vice president with corporate communications, said late Tuesday via email.
Wells Fargo said customers now using the 18th Street branch located near the Piedmont Columbus Regional medical campus will be directed to other offices, including the Uptown Columbus location at 101 13th St. Those now doing business at the Smiths Station office will be asked to use either the 1014 U.S. Hwy. 280 Bypass branch or the 616 13th St. office, both in Phenix City.
“We will continue to serve customers through WellsFargo.com and mobile banking,” Lawson Nelson said.
Meanwhile, Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Bank will be turning out the lights of its downtown Columbus branch at 201 13th St. this Friday, with the company confirming the move in April and saying it is part of two dozen closures companywide.
Regions will still operate its remaining Columbus bank at 5555 Whittlesey Blvd., and three more in Phenix City, including 1200 Broad St. branch in downtown Phenix City.
“A careful review of our branches has identified opportunities to consolidate based on traffic, new technology, volume, location of other branches, profitability and other factors,” Regions spokesman Mel Campbell said in April.
Wells Fargo and Regions, like most banking firms across the U.S., have been thinning out their brick-and-mortar locations in recent years as technology improves and more consumers handle their financial business via computers and smartphones. They also continue to rely on automated teller machines for cash.
Wells Fargo has had other problems, however, with the company being fined a combined $1 billion earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The penalties were related to the financial institution’s dealings with customers in both auto and mortgage business areas.
Wells Fargo and Regions are the third- and fourth-largest banks in the Columbus metro area, which includes Phenix City, according to the most recent annual survey of deposits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Wells Fargo has 11 percent of deposits, while Regions has 2.5 percent. They trail Synovus Bank’s 63 percent and SunTrust Bank’s 12.5 percent.
This story was originally published August 15, 2018 3:04 PM.