Dutch lender Rabobank to close branches - newspaper

Netherlands-based lender Rabobank will close roughly half its local branches in coming years to cut costs, business newspaper Financieele Dagblad reported on Thursday. The number of local branches will be reduced from around 335 to "100 to 150" in coming years, the newspaper said.

Netherlands-based lender Rabobank will close roughly half its local branches in coming years to cut costs, business newspaper Financieele Dagblad reported on Thursday. There will be an unspecified number of job cuts, the paper reported citing internal documents, but most employees will be relocated.

Rabobank, best known internationally as an agriculture lender, did not immediately respond for a request for comment. In 2016, the company said it would trim 9,000 jobs, or a fifth of its workforce as part of cost-cutting measures. The number of local branches will be reduced from around 335 to "100 to 150" in coming years, the newspaper said. It said the decision was prompted by prolonged low interest rates, digital banking and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July, leading Dutch bank ING said it would close a quarter of its bank branches in the Netherlands as the pandemic has accelerated the switch to digital banking.

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