Banks, 13 million people risk being without branches

In inland areas there are at least 13 million people at risk of being without bank branches in the coming years. According to an analysis by the Uilca Orietta Guerra Study Centre on Italian municipalities, a trend of more closures and fewer branch openings is in fact underway in these areas. Given that these areas are characterised by low population density and are prone to abandonment by young people, according to Uilca's analysis, in 2024 there was a negative balance of 101 bank branches in inland areas compared to 2023. Of the 614 branches closed in Italy, 135 were located in inland areas, while new openings in these areas were only 34 out of a total of 108. From a territorial point of view, only 31 municipalities in inland areas (32%) of the 97 municipalities registered the opening of new bank branches. These areas have 22.6% of the country's population, or over 13 million people, and there are 48.5% of municipalities (3,833) and 23.1% of active bank branches (4,549).

 "The data show that banking desertification is a fact and not a cliché," notes Uilca General Secretary Fulvio Furlan. "It is clear that there is the problem of the depopulation of certain territories, but we believe that banks, instead of merely adapting to the phenomenon, can be a driving force to reverse this trend given the importance of the credit sector in the country. Banks can play a social role in guaranteeing essential services, as demonstrated during the pandemic, to people who otherwise remain isolated and penalised,' the trade unionist continues.

In addition to the emigration from the countryside to the cities and the ageing of the population that reduces the workforce and changes consumption in inland areas, there will also be the impact of the banking resurgence that could reshape the geography of branches, leading to further desertification in these areas and further concentrating branch density in certain parts of the country. Looking at what is happening on the ground, at the end of 2024 there will be 3,380 municipalities without a bank branch, in which some 4.6 million people live. According to the Uilca Study Centre, the most worrying figure concerns in particular the closure of 49 bank branches - which occurred in 2024 - in the municipalities of the Inner Areas that still had at least one bank branch in 2023. This latest wave of closures has brought to 1,980 the number of municipalities without bank branches and left more than 2 million people without any physical banking service (equal to 46 per cent of the population living in municipalities without bank branches), aggravating an already difficult economic, wage and social situation.

For Roberto Telatin, head of the Uilca Research Centre, however, 'the role of banks must be to help businesses and families by supporting the real economy, at a time when we are witnessing a silent rise in inflation'. This, however, 'is not being matched by an increase in wages and industrial production,' Telatin continues. Moreover, the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) seems to be insufficient to define a path of economic development. This is why it is necessary to bring bank branches close to the people, to support them in their economic and financial choices in these difficult times'.