No more major downsizing! Last year, the six major state-owned banks reduced approximately 255 offline outlets, and the trend of moving into lower-tier markets "toward county towns" continues.

As AI technology impacts, why have bank branch reductions hit a three-year low?

Cailian Press, April 2nd (Reporter Peng Kefeng) As offline outlets and branches serving urban and rural residents, banks face the question: should they continue expanding or accelerate contraction in the face of AI technology?

This morning, based on the annual reports of the six major state-owned banks, Cailian Press reporters found that by the end of 2025, the total number of offline branches of the six major banks was approximately 106,058, a net reduction of about 255 compared to the previous year, marking the smallest decrease in nearly three years.

Last year, the six major banks reduced about 255 offline branches, with the Agricultural Bank participating in small and medium bank reform and risk management to expand

In 2025, with the rise of large models and intelligent agents, will they impact the bank’s offline branch layout?

According to the publicly available annual reports of the six major state-owned banks, Cailian Press reporters found that by the end of 2025, the six banks had approximately 106,058 branches and outlets, maintaining a scale above 100,000 for multiple years.

Specifically, the Industrial and Commercial Bank’s annual report shows that by the end of 2025, it had a total of 16,246 branches, a decrease of 137 from the previous year.

The Agricultural Bank’s annual report states that by the end of 2025, it had 23,128 domestic branches, including the head office, business departments, four specialized branches, four training institutes, 37 primary branches, 410 secondary branches, 3,316 primary sub-branches, and 19,313 grassroots service outlets.

The Bank of China’s annual report indicates that, as of the end of 2025, the bank had a total of 10,255 domestic commercial banking institutions (including head office, primary branches, directly affiliated branches, secondary branches, and grassroots branches).

China Construction Bank’s annual report shows that, as of the end of 2025, the group operated 14,614 branches.

The Bank of Communications’ annual report states that through mobile banking, online banking, and other digital channels, as well as over 2,800 branches domestically, 24 overseas branches/subsidiaries, and representative offices, it provides services to customers.

Postal Savings Bank’s annual report indicates that as of the end of 2025, it had 39,015 outlets.

Compared to the previous year’s annual reports, by the end of 2024, the number of offline branches of the six major state-owned banks was about 106,300.

As of the end of 2024, the Industrial and Commercial Bank had 16,383 branches; Agricultural Bank had about 22,877 domestic branches; Bank of China had 10,279 domestic commercial banking institutions; China Construction Bank had 14,750 branches; Bank of Communications had over 2,800 branches; Postal Savings Bank had 39,224 outlets.

Using the same calculation dimension, this means that over the past year, the number of offline branches of the six major state-owned banks decreased by about 255.

Among them, last year, Agricultural Bank’s branch count increased by approximately 250 compared to the previous year. Public information shows that this is related to Agricultural Bank’s first participation in rural small and medium financial institution reform, where about 192 rural commercial bank branches in Jilin Province were collectively transferred.

“Moving towards county towns” and creating featured city outlets have become new trends in bank offline branch layout

“Long-term, as AI technology iterates and develops, the gradual reduction of bank offline outlets and branches should be a major trend,” said representatives from two state-owned banks. Under the principle of cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, banks will be more cautious in setting up new branches. In the future, they will continue to adjust and optimize branch layouts, striving to create differentiated featured features. However, in county markets, state-owned banks are still seeking growth opportunities, so some branches in lower-tier markets may increase.

From Industrial and Commercial Bank, it is learned that last year, the bank completed the optimization and adjustment of 474 branches, including 187 in key urban areas, and invested 141 new branches in county towns and villages. “Currently, our county coverage rate has increased to 87.5%.”

An official from Agricultural Bank told reporters that it is the only commercial bank that has achieved full coverage of all county-level areas and will continue to deepen county financial markets.

Bank of China stated that last year, it optimized and adjusted 380 branches, opened 21 new county areas, and increased county coverage to 66.95%.

From Postal Savings Bank, it is learned that since the special deployment of branch layout optimization and image enhancement in 2024, the bank has proactively adjusted the layout of 147 overlapping or restricted branches, and in key areas such as top 100 counties and top 1,000 towns in the national economy, provincial and above rural revitalization key counties, and new urban areas, it has established 76 new branches.

It is also understood that in competitive mid-to-large cities, major state-owned banks are combining pension finance, distinctive cultural features, and community culture to optimize and upgrade offline branches, further enhancing customer stickiness.

A person from ICBC Beijing Branch told reporters that in the face of the current industry trend of “customers leaving physical stores and moving online,” the value of reshaping traditional physical branches has become a major topic in bank transformation.

In 2025, ICBC Beijing Branch optimized core and central urban areas, designing branches with differentiated features based on community culture and customer needs. After adjustments, flagship stores account for nearly 50%. “We are actively promoting distinctive branch creative design, scene construction, and operation around themes such as historical culture, folk customs, and tourism hotspots,” the person said.

They also gave examples: at Tongzhou Fudi Center Branch, they created a coffee shop-style workspace; at Chongwen South Station Branch, they designed a high-speed rail theme; at Xuanwu Caishikou Branch, they launched Beijing’s first “multi-scene integrated social bank” demonstration branch, aiming to integrate financial services into livelihood scenarios.

(Reporter Peng Kefeng, Cailian Press)