Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
3-2020
Abstract
Banks today have been increasingly reducing their physical presence and redirecting customers to digital channels, and yet, the consequences of this strategy are not well studied. This paper investigates the effects of banks' branch network changes (i.e., branch openings and branch closures) on customer omnichannel banking behavior. Using approximately 0.85 million (33 months') anonymized individual-level banking transactions from a large commercial bank in the United States, this paper shows the asymmetric effects of branch openings and branch closures on customer omnichannel banking behavior. In particular, we find that branch openings increase customers' branch transactions; however, the first branch opening leads to a migration of complex transactions to the branches, which might result in a net decrease in online banking in the short term. As consumers interact more with the physical channel, there is a gradual synergistic increase in customers' transactions via online banking as well as alternative channels due to a learning spillover effect. The learning spillover effect goes from easy online inquiries to more complex online transactions as additional branches open. On the contrary, branch closures result in a favorable migration pattern from the branch channel to online banking. This pattern, however, could be reversed once the last branch closes within the customer's residential neighborhood. Our study teases out the underlying mechanisms that drive customer omnichannel banking behavior in the context of branch openings and branch closures, and discusses the managerial implications for branch network restructuring and banking channel management.
Keywords
branch network, branch openings, branch closures, online banking, omnichannel, propensity score matching, difference in differences
Discipline
Computer Sciences | Finance and Financial Management | Operations and Supply Chain Management | Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering
Publication
Information Systems ResearchIn
Volume
31
Issue
1
First Page
176
Last Page
197
ISSN
1047-7047
Identifier
10.1287/ISRE.2019.0880
Publisher
INFORMS
Embargo Period
5-30-2021
Citation
ZHOU, Mi; GENG, Dan; ABHISHEK, Vibhanshu; and LI, Beibei.
When the bank comes to you: Branch network and customer omnichannel banking behavior. (2020). Information Systems ResearchIn. 31, (1), 176-197.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/5973
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1287/ISRE.2019.0880
Included in
Computer Sciences Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons, Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons