The Effect of Mobile Banking Access on Bank Entry and Exit in the Southern Great Plains

Bank or branch closure resulting in loss of access to lending institutions has been linked to limited economic growth and long-term vitality of a region (Nguyen, 2019; Conroy et al., 2017). Since the 1980’s, changes in banking, such as higher efficiency in branches, greater numbers of ATMs, and the emergence of alternative banking forms, coincided with declines in the total number of physical banks; by 1997, the total number of banking institutions had declined by 33% in the US and 40% in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) (Spong and Harvey, 1998). Following the advent of smart technology in the late 2000s, alternative banking options have become even more readily available with over half of all commercial banks in the United States offering online banking services by the end of 2003. In 2022, surveys found that 72% of banking Americans preferred to access their accounts through mobile or online portals (ABA, 2022). The availability and adoption of mobile technology begs the question, are brick-and-mortar bank entries and exits affected by technologies that increase mobile banking access? This study estimates the relationship between mobile banking access and bank entry and exit in the SGP, defined as the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. These findings will lend insight to the question of whether there are areas without banking access or if the availability of mobile banking impacts physical bank presence.