French bank Société Générale will be closing 300 of its branches as it expands it digital banking capabilities and moves to cut costs, the bank announced yesterday.
The plan, which will take place over a three year period, will shutter 15% of the bank’s branch network, as well as cut 900 jobs.
The move comes as Société Générale is preparing for what CEO Frédéric Oudéa called the “industrial revolution” that European banks will experience in the next 10 years, Oudéa said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Most of the disruption, which will come from a combination of new digital tools and new regulations or policies, Oudéa said—will fall on the retail sector. Revenues from this sector make up a third of the bank’s revenue, according to the Financial Times.
The news comes after the bank previously announced 2,550 job cuts to its retail network in 2016. It will reveal the rest of its “2020 plan” in Paris today.
Read more at the Financial Times and Finextra.