Bank Branches are the Latest Creative Destruction Casualty


Posted originally on Jul 24, 2025 by Martin Armstrong 

Electronic Dollar Digital

Over 8,000 bank branches are expected to close worldwide in 2025. Approximately 3,200 of those closures will take place in the United States. Q1 experienced 148 net branch closures in the US, with all major banks slated to close branches throughout the year.

These are merely bank closures and not bank failures, although two smaller US banks did fail this year. People simply prefer online banking as we have made the switch from relational to transactional banking.

Bankrate conducted a survey that found 77% of Americans prefer online digital banking, yet other surveys believe the figure is closer to 89%. Digital banking has been rising in popularity in recent years, up from 203 million domestic users in 2022 to the 216.8 million projected users in 2025. The survey found that 34% of consumers use online banking on a daily basis, consistently checking their account and transactions. There has even been a 19% increase in use among the 65+ crowd who is least likely to use digital services.

Transactional BankingCoverr

The total number of bank branches across the US fell below 65,000 in Q2. Texas, New York, and California saw the largest decrease in brick-and-mortar locations. Many branches that chose to remain open are only offering drive thru services. One in three banks has closed in rural areas as there is no demand, and the Federal Reserve noted in its annual Banking Access Report that the number of “banking deserts” across the Midwest is rising.

Banks have no overhead with digital banking services and they do not need to hire staff. The cost-per-transaction for in-person banking is $4.00 compared to only $0.04 for digital. AI is rapidly replacing bank tellers with a 3 to 1 ratio.

The trend is global. The United Kingdom anticipates 370 to 450 branch closures this year. Germany and France are facing 1,100 closures combined. The Asia-Pacific region of the world saw a 16% reduction in bank branches from January to May 2025. Certain nations like Malaysia and Thailand also offer branchless micro-banking kiosks to substitute relational banking.

The money in your bank account is already just an electronic book entry. Not only is there less demand for face-to-face banking, but they are also preparing for CBDCs as bank branches are unnecessary without physical paper money. You can deposit a check on your phone or at a kiosk, but e-checks are rising in popularity. The only thing left for a branch is safe deposit boxes, and the government assumes you are hiding cash there anyway. Relationship banking is becoming a thing of the past, the latest casualty in the cycle of creative destruction.

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Taxpayers Lost $10B on Failed Green USPS Initiative


Posted originally on Jul 22, 2025 by Martin Armstrong  

USPS.EV_

The US government wasted $10 billion in public funds attempting to transform the US Postal Service (USPS) into a battery-powered service. Out of the 60,000 purchased EV Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDVs) only 250 have been created. House Republicans are now attempting to rescue any remaining funds from this failed green initiative.

The project was set for completion by September 2028. The funding for this failed conversion came from the largest spending package in American history—the Inflation Reduction Act—the trojan horse to usher in a wave of climate initiatives.  The American people never voted on the Inflation Reduction Act. The American people never voted to transform the USPS into a green-friendly operation. And yet, the American people are forced to pay the bill.

“Biden’s multi-billion-dollar EV fleet for the USPS is lost in the mail, and more than $1 billion is postmarked to order more,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told The Post. “I am working to cancel the order and return the money to the sender, the American people. The rescissions package is a great start, but Congress must keep its foot on the pedal and make DOGE a lifestyle by stamping out waste like this on a regular basis.”

Defense contractor Oshkosh received $2.6 billion to create NGDVs. Oshkosh promised to provide 3,000 trucks by November 2024 but had only produced 93. Countless issues have been reported with these NGDVs, from leaks to airbags. Worse, Oshkosh was never equipped to handle the production of 3,000 vehicles, and has stated that they have only been able to produce ONE truck per day. They are now working to refine their manufacturing to create 80 trucks per day. Again, there were other avenues and established factories.

Each vehicle came with a price tag of $77,692. The Government Accountability Office warned in February 2025 that USPS has a “high risk” of financial viability as it could not “fully fund its current level of services and financial obligations.” USPS posted a loss of $9.5 billion in 2024, all of which must be supplied by the people. So, in addition to the regular losses, the former administration was doubling down on asinine climate initiatives and digging the agency into a deeper hole.

The Biden Administration spent BILLIONS on investing in EV infrastructure that never came to fruition. I spoke on how Biden approved of a $7.5 billion spending package to build EV charging stations throughout the nation, but only SEVEN were produced in over a two-year span. His most recent climate debacle that came to light rests on decarbonizing the Postal Service.

Yet another example of government spending gone awry. They always create these grandiose plans with no format for execution. The American people should not be responsible for any administration’s outrageous spending—no taxation without representation.

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