OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — The slated March 2019 closure of PNC Bank’s Oil City branch is part of a larger consolidation effort, a bank corporate spokesperson said Monday.

The PNC Bank branch located at 8 Seneca Street in Oil City is scheduled to close permanently on March 15, 2019.

According to Marci Zwiebel, PNC Bank Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Public Relations, the closure is part of a nationwide consolidation effort.

“We have been going through an evaluation of our branch network in response to the fact that the way customers are using branches is changing,” Zwiebel said.

According to Zwiebel, bank customers are using online and mobile services as well as ATMs more often now, which has led to the bank reevaluating its branches.

“It used to be that customers used the bank branches for basic transactions, but now they are able to use more convenient mobile and online banking services and ATMs. Customers can even do deposits at the ATMs (and online) now,” Zwiebel noted.

“As a result, there have been consolidations within the branch network.”

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) data shows that while PNC Bank had well over 3,000 U.S. branches at their peak in 2012, they have since closed or consolidated a number of those branches and currently operate a total of 2,493 locations.

According to Zwiebel, those employed at the Oil City branch location may be able to transfer to other locations following the closure.

“When we have consolidation, we do our best to place the employees impacted by it,” Zweibel said.

Zwiebel did not have information on the number of employees affected by the closure of the Oil City branch.

Though the Oil City branch location is closing, the ATM located there will remain open, along with the ATM located at the Country Fair in Oil City.

Customers that previously used the Seneca Street branch location will be able to use any other branch that is convenient for them and will not need to do anything to transfer their account information.

Locally, PNC Bank operates branch locations in Franklin, Clarion, Titusville, Mercer, Butler, Slippery Rock, and Grove City.