Bank of America to pare branches, but not 10 percent

Bank of America Corp said on Tuesday it plans to modestly reduce the size of its U.S. branch network over the next three to five years, but does not have plans to eliminate 10 percent of its branches.

The largest U.S. bank by assets ended June with 6,109 branches, second nationally to Wells Fargo & Co.

Earlier Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told investors at a meeting last Thursday that he plans to shrink the branch network by about 10 percent.

A bank spokesman, James Mahoney, said: We do not have a plan to reduce branches by 10 percent, though the network will come down modestly in size over three to five years, even as the bank builds new branches. He added that regulators are not pressuring the bank to trim its branch network.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)