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Mobile revolution has accelerated bank branch closures and job cuts, says Barclays boss Antony Jenkins

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By Jessica Davies, News Editor

May 11, 2014 | 2 min read

Barclays bank boss Antony Jenkins has blamed the mobile revolution for the expected closure of its branches, which will see thousands of jobs cut across the group this year.

In an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show this morning Jenkins answered Marr’s question about job losses and branch closures in retail banking, by citing the changing needs of today’s consumers.

“This has all been driven by what customers want to do. We are on the leading edge of a huge technology change in retail banking because we all carry a mobile now and all do things online, and want to do things in our own time and at our own convenience.

“So what this means is that the nature of retail banking is changing fundamentally.”

He said that there will continue to be “hundreds” of Barclays branches, and “tens of thousands" of people working within them, but added that as customers continue to make transactions and “do business” differently, banks must respond.

Although Barclays has recently revealed it will close branches, there has been no mention of any changes or closures to its retail banking arm.

When asked by Marr how many retail branches will close in total he said there is no current target to make closures, but that it is actually opening branches in areas including Asda supermarkets.

“Very excitingly customers actually paid a cheque into the bank using their mobile,” he added.

However, he conceded that in the next decade there is likely to be a reduction in the amount of branches on the high street as people increasingly look to mobile devices to make banking transactions.

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Barclays

Barclays plc is a British multinational bank and financial services company headquartered in London. 

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