By Matt Wiley
If you frequently use the drive-through lanes at the Bank of America (BoA) in Tampa Palms (photo, right), you may want to seek another branch in the New Tampa area, as the international banking giant has announced that the teller lanes at 14 bank branches across the Bay area will be shut down by July 6, including the Tampa Palms BoA branch, located in the Shoppes of Amberly shopping plaza off Amberly Dr..
BoA spokesperson Tara Burke says that the move comes as more people reportedly are doing their banking on their smartphones, using the BoA mobile application (which is available for both Apple and Android devices), rather than utilizing teller lanes at a branch.
Burke explains that the decision to discontinue the teller lanes was based upon a “thoughtful process” that looked at a variety of factors.
“We looked at traffic and other factors, but it really came down to usage,” Burke says. “We also looked at each branch’s proximity to other BoA banking centers.”
The Amberly branch is about five miles south of the next branch with teller lanes, which is located in front of the Publix-anchored New Tampa Center shopping plaza, also on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.
Burke says that BoA currently calculates that 17 million people worldwide are using its mobile application and that about 200,000 checks are deposited daily using it.
“If you look at those numbers, it’s amazing how many people are banking using their smartphones,” Burke says. “We continue to evaluate our (banking) network based on customer behavior.”
In many cases, including that of the Amberly branch, Burke explains that the BoA branches that no longer will offer teller lanes already offer 24-hour ATMs. She adds that many times, nearly all of the services people use the teller lanes for can be completed faster at the ATM than with an actual teller.
The company also is in the process of implementing ATMs with “Teller Assist,” which lets users see and speak with a teller at a remote location. There currently are 194 branches in Florida with the “Teller Assist” service, but none yet in the New Tampa or Wesley Chapel areas.
Although the teller lanes will not be in use at the Amberly location, Burke says that there is the possibility of installing additional ATMs in the lanes in the future.
For more information, please visit BankOfAmerica.com.
No comment yet, add your voice below!