The council has said it wants to have a "core branch network" of libraries.
They organise a branch network of groups of women and start lending to them.
State Street long ago abandoned a branch network and recently stopping lending to companies.
Local debt markets are also difficult to trade without a local branch network, which adds to costs.
It also won a QFB (qualified foreign bank) license in Singapore to further expand its branch network.
It is only belatedly spending money to rejuvenate a retail branch network that for years suffered from underinvestment.
Latest buildup: a low-cost regional branch network starting in Egypt and running up the Balkans through Macedonia to Romania.
Chinatrust is rapidly developing a global branch network including offices in South America, India, Europe and around East Asia.
The company's main strengths are its extensive branch network, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, and its mainly Chinese client list.
Neither bank operates many branches on the other side of the border, so rationalisation of the branch network should be limited.
The bank already has the largest branch network in Spain, where the mortgage market was slowing even before the credit squeeze.
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One name that cropped up immediately is America's Citigroup, one of the few foreign banks with a sizeable retail branch network in Germany.
The post office's branch network is a political as well as commercial goldmine, which can deliver huge numbers of votes, especially in Japan's all-important rural constituencies.
Yucho has recently lost some of its payments business to Japan's convenience-store chains, which together have an even more comprehensive branch network than the post office.
As well as its branch network which supplies car parts and motoring services, LSUK operates subsidiaries M I Diesel Products, Protech Automotive (UK) and Yeovil Rewind.
The ubiquity of Bank of America's heavily staffed nationwide branch network is what enables it to retain customers despite charging high fees and offering depositors low interest.
The society said it had decided to get closer to communities and the openings later this year would enable it to "bridge the gaps" in its branch network.
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The tapes contained information about United States branch network customers of CitiFinancial, the company's consumer finance division, as well as customers with closed accounts from CitiFinancial Retail Services.
Nor does a ubiquitous branch network seem to improve profitability.
In its statement on Thursday, Ulster Bank said it continued to keep its branch network under review "to ensure that we are operating in the correct locations for our customers".
Dresdner pushes Allianz's insurance products through its branch network, while Commerzbank does the same for Italy's Generali, which owns 5% of its shares, and is one of Allianz's keenest rivals.
JPMorgan, which has long coveted WaMu's deposit base and presence in California, Florida and other locations where it does not have a meaningful branch network, is getting the bank for a song.
Its private-sector loans have been fully provisioned, its payroll cut from 34, 000 to 22, 000, and the more ambitious bits of its branch network (such as outposts in Amsterdam and Moscow) shut down.
Acquiring customers through direct mail costs 10 times more than acquiring them through a branch network, which means Citi's costs probably outweigh those of Chase, which operates five times as many U.S. branches.
"I see us developing community banking in the metropolitan areas, " he says, citing Houston as a place where he'd like to create a branch network that serves both a middle-class population and oil companies.
They also gain access to a branch network and client list they could never afford to replicate, even after World Trade Organisation rules force China to open its domestic banking market fully from end-2006.
Under orders from the European Commission, Lloyds is selling 632 branches, equivalent to 22% of its branch network - and initial bids need to be received by mid July (which is a bit quicker than expected).
With a constant need to upgrade technology, advertise its brand and adjust its worldwide branch network, Citi (nyse: C - news - people ) continues to struggle with keeping expense growth below revenue growth.
The Consumer Services segment represents the company's branch network, including consumer banking products and services related to residential first mortgages, home equity lines and loans, indirect loans, consumer credit cards and other consumer loans, as well as the corresponding deposit relationships.
At the height of the 1980s banking crisis, BofA was calmly lending money to other troubled banks including Continental, which quickly failed because it had no such branch network and was able to work its problems out over time.
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