The consumer banking shakeout is still unfolding according to Meredith Whitney, star analyst and soon-to-be head of a new credit rating agency. She predicts that U.S. banks will be forced to close 5,000 branches over the next year and a half.

That would amount to about 5 percent of all bank branches and "would mark a new twist in a decades-long consolidation process," according to Fortune. This will occur via the bank consolidation we're now seeing and perhaps via some strategic decisions by banks about their retail efforts.

So far, we have not seen the rise of online and mobile banking make a serious dent in the number of branches. Many remain convinced branch service is still a critical business driver. Fifth Third is expanding hours in some areas, for example. But in this economy, more banks may be forced to consolidate their brick-and-mortar operations. The biggest banks, of course, are bent on investing to create the branch of the future. We're still seeing a lot of research in this area.

Branch closures may be inevitable but the idea of the branch is alive and well. It's just a matter of what it will look like. We've taken a look at some possibilities over on FierceFinanceIT. 

For more:
- here's the Fortune article

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