BMI Cutting Branches

Bank Melli Iran, the major state-owned lender, reduced the number of branches by 6% in fiscal 2020-21.
It had 2,952 branches in the previous fiscal year compared to 3,200 a year before, according to IBENA, the news agency affiliated to the Monetary and Banking Research Institute.
BMi said it is committed to eliminating underperforming  branches and improve efficiency.
Banking and economic experts have long for closing the unwanted and unhelpful branches to cut costs and encourage customers towards mobile banking instead of coming to the bank.
As per available data, total bank branches across the country are around to 23,000 and banks are required to close down 10,000 branches, according to Abbas Memarnejad, an official with the Economy Ministry.
Citing ministry studies, Memarnejad said the number of bank branches should not exceed 12,000 based on indicators such as net domestic product, population and demographics.