As digitalization drives banks to shutter more retail branches, the disappearance of these brick-and-mortar facilities has been found to be a significant factor behind the scourge of online scams and identity theft. The causal link, reported in a novel investigation by a trio of academics including Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Assistant Professor of Finance Gloria Yang Yu, received the Best Paper Award (2025) from the ANU-FIRN Banking and Financial Stability Meeting. The annual meeting is organized by Australian National University, and the Financial Research Network (FIRN) for financial economics researchers in Australia and New Zealand.
Closing bank branches opens opportunities for scammers, research finds
