Development of bank branches: experience of European countries and Ukraine

The article is devoted to the investigation of current development of branch network of banks in Ukraine and European countries. The main reasons of decreasing of bank branches are determined. In general, they include banks` desire to reduce its costs and increase falling profits and the popularity of remote servicing provided for clients through the Internet. The author analyzes the situation with bank branches in some European countries including Ukraine. The analysis shows different tendencies: some countries show fast decreasing of bank branches (Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine), in some countries banks don`t hasten to cut down their branch network (Great Britain, France, Germany), some banks open new branches (Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland). The author formulates perspectives of development of branch network of European banks including Ukraine in the next years.