Bank of America cutting 100 jobs in consumer banking

Bank of America will cut a “small number” of jobs in its consumer and small business banking unit, a spokeswoman confirms. About 100 people will be impacted out of 90,000 people working in consumer banking.

The layoffs are part of the bank’s ongoing work to revamp its consumer banking unit, the business responsible for branch banking, ATMs and credit and debit cards. Led by Joe Price, the consumer banking unit is trying to cope with declining revenues as a result of the bank ending debit card overdraft fees. It also is faced with revenue cuts as regulators crimp debit card “swipe fees,” a charge retailers pay every time a debit card is used at a cash register.

The bank is also trying to capture a higher share of upper middle-class affluent customers. Price said last week at an investor’s conference the bank will close up to 10% of its 5,800 branches in the next few years as it focuses more on mobile and online banking.

“This is about reorganizing the business to be more focused on our customers’ needs,” spokeswoman Anne Pace says about the layoffs.

She says employees impacted in many cases will be offered positions in other areas of the bank. It’s not clear how many jobs impacted are in Charlotte, where BofA employs about 15,000 people. The bank employs 287,000 worldwide.

From: Biz Journals