October 28, 2024
DVRPC staff will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss the Great Consolidation and how to anticipate and plan for the impacts of the changing retail banking industry.
Join us on Wednesday, December 11, from 2:00 - 3:15 pm for a webinar titled “Adapting to Changes in the Retail Banking Industry.” Brick-and-mortar bank branches are closing at high rates across the country, due to changing consumer habits, and a national shift in the retail banking industry known as the “Great Consolidation.” As detailed in DVRPC’s recent report, The Great Consolidation: Community Banking Decline in Greater Philadelphia, between 2012 and 2022, 405 branches closed in our region alone, which equated to a loss of 22.4 percent of the region’s bank branches. This trend has implications for everything from household finances and small business growth, to the future of the workforce.
DVRPC staff will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss the Great Consolidation and how to anticipate and plan for the impacts of the changing retail banking industry. Panelists include:
- Alaina Barca, Community Development Research Analyst, The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, who will discuss her work on defining and mapping the region’s banking deserts;
- Varsovia Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer, PA CDFI Network, who will share her expertise on the roles that Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) play in helping unbanked and underbanked populations access important financial services; and
- Karen Sweeney, Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer, TruMark Financial Credit Union, who will explain what types of skills will be needed in the banking workforce of the future and the steps that TruMark Financial Credit Union is taking now to plan for that future.