After more than 15 years of mass closures, physical banks are coming back in vogue.
For the first time since the Great Recession, the number of brick-and-mortar branches in the U.S. expanded for three consecutive quarters, accounting for a nine-month period of growth from October 2025 to June 2026, according to an analysis of FDIC data by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. While the growth was modest — a net of roughly 110 new brick-and-mortar branches — and geographically uneven, the spell of widespread closures appears to have broken, if only momentarily.
In an age where you can open all kinds of accounts — from checking to brokerage — with the tap of a button, the reversal may come as a surprise. But analysts say the want (and need) for face-to-face banking never really went away.
“Many consumers and small businesses still appreciate having a relationship with the bank that understands their community,” Zain Tariq, senior analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, tells Money.
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Physical bank locations — think: a counter, a teller and perhaps a lollipop — used to be the only way for most Americans to manage their money. Since the Great Recession, though, the rise of digital banking combined with a slew of bank failures and mergers have contributed heavily to the loss of branches.
These days, thanks to their lower operating costs, online banks such as Ally and SoFi offer some of the highest annual percentage yields on savings accounts and money market accounts.
But there’s something to be said about walking into a physical bank and talking to a real person who lives locally and can help you with account issues or questions.
“Not all battles can be won on rates,” Tariq says.
For Money’s latest annual ranking of the Best Banks in the U.S., we reviewed hundreds of data points — not just rates — covering minimum deposit requirements, account fees and other features like customer service and convenience. See which banks made the cut.
In-person banking isn’t dead
Relationship banking, as it’s called, is still important for many Americans. In fact, Tariq says it’s foundational for smaller local banks and credit unions, which thrive on maintaining connections with their communities. It’s also partially why some major national banks have returned to investing in brick-and-mortar locations.
“It has been a long time since we could say bank branches were growing in this country,” Jason Richardson, senior director of research at the reinvestment coalition, wrote in the analysis.
According to Richardson’s report, bank branches aren’t popping up uniformly across the U.S. They’re concentrated mostly in the Southeast and Southwest, while they are generally declining in most other regions.
Florida and Texas are leading the growth by a large margin, with each state adding more than 50 branches over the year ending in June. Major cities like New York and San Francisco are hemorrhaging the most branches. The report noted that this follows post-COVID-19 migration patterns more broadly, as many Americans relocated from big cities to more affordable areas.
Fueling the trend are commitments to open physical branches by several of the nation’s top banks. JPMorgan Chase plans to open 500 new branches total, with 160 coming in 2026. Meanwhile, PNC is opening 300 new branches by 2030, and Bank of America is wrapping up its expansion of 165 new financial centers by the end of the year.
Branches build trust
The convenience of digital banking is difficult to overstate. Banking apps and websites make the day-to-day management of your finances quick and easy (in most cases, that is).
The biggest casualties of the move to online banking are in-store banks, such as the once-ubiquitous branches at the front of Walmart or Target stores. According to FDIC data, these types of physical locations are shuttering far faster and uniformly than full-service brick-and-mortar branches.
The trend largely follows how people like to bank in modern life: Use an app for the simple tasks, like checking balances or cashing checks. But go in person for particularly difficult or sensitive ones, like check endorsements or dealing with the ever-growing problem of identity theft.
According to a recent survey from the bank Santander, 9 in 10 U.S. adults want to manage most tasks digitally but still have access to a physical branch for assistance. The survey underscored that people like the convenience of online banking, but physical locations help build trust.
In a twist, a majority of respondents have more confidence in a digital banking provider that has physical locations. Perhaps surprisingly, that’s especially true for younger adults: 87% of Gen Z and 85% of millennials say they agree with the sentiment compared to 75% of boomers.
With the next generation valuing the option to bank in person, brick-and-mortars are still far from obsolete.
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