JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African lender Standard Bank will cut around 1,200 jobs and close 91 branches as part of efforts to digitise its retail and business bank, it said on Thursday.
South Africa’s lenders, like others around the world, have been shuttering branches and trimming their headcount in an attempt to cut costs and adapt to customers’ growing preference to bank online or on their mobile phones.
“This has not been an easy decision to make,” the bank, South Africa’s largest by assets, said in a statement, adding it would implement a “comprehensive exit package” that goes beyond the legal requirements.
Job cuts are sensitive in South Africa, where unemployment stands at 27 percent, and Standard Bank’s announcement comes on the back of plans to cut 526 jobs announced in November.
South African finance trade union, SASBO, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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