Citibank plans to close several California branches

The CFO of the large bank said it plans to eliminate 60 U.S. branches early this year with the majority of those in California.

The nation's No. 3 bank Citigroup has announced plans to close 60 U.S. branches with the majority of those in California.

New York-based Citibank filed a report with the Comptroller of the Currency in early December announcing the closures of nine branches in Central California, including in Chowchilla, Madera, Kingsburg, Sanger, Visalia, Porterville and its only two locations on the Central Coast — Atascadero and Paso Robles, according to the Visalia-Times Delta.  

CFO John Gerspach said the branches will be closed, not sold and the closures include retail locations outside of urban areas. Last year, Citigroup was positioning 50 California branches with a total of $3 billion in deposits for sale, but it was not clear why.

Citi is in the process of shrinking its U.S. footprint from 14 cities to six. Gerspach said New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will account for more than 90% of the bank's U.S. geographical presence by the end of the year.

Citigroup had 384 branches in California holding close to $48 billion in deposits as of June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.