For years, retail banking strategy followed a predictable script: Shift routine transactions to digital channels, downsize physical footprints and route customer service inquiries to centralized contact centers. The underlying assumption was that physical branches were dying embers of a bygone era. Yet industry data tells a radically different story. According to the 2026 Future of Branch Banking Report by the Digital Banking Report, 71% of financial institutions consider branches mission-critical or very important to long-term growth.