ALTAMONT — Effective May 10, the Altamont branch of KeyBank will close its doors and customer accounts will be consolidated to the bank’s Guilderland branch at 2050 Western Ave., said bank spokesman Michael Conlin.

All four workers at the branch will remain employed by the bank, which dominates the local banking scene with 40 percent of the market share.

Many villagers walk to the branch, located at 105 Park St. on the village green at the center of Altamont.

“As any business does, KeyBank is continually reviewing our organization to maintain a strong position in the marketplace. Also, to meet the specific needs of our clients and to meet business needs,” Conlin told The Enterprise. “And over the past few years, we’ve seen a steady increase in customer preference for online digital and mobile banking. So in response, we are making greater investments in technology to enhance those services.”

In just a few short years, the way people bank has changed quite a bit. More than half of Americans now do primarily mobile and online banking.

In 2017, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, about 24 percent of banked households — a household that has a bank account and has not use alternative financial services like check-cashing outlets, payday lenders, or pawnshops in the past 12 months — used a bank teller as the primary method to access their bank account. In 2013, about 32 percent of banked households used a bank teller as their primary bank-account access.

The 8-percent drop represents about 7 million households.

In 2017, there were about 28 million banked households that used a teller as the primary method to access their bank account; in 2013, that number had been nearly 35 million.

Over roughly the same time period, branch closings almost matched the decrease in households that used a teller as the primary method to access their account. Between 2012 and 2017, according to the FDIC, the number of branches operated by FDIC-insured institutions declined by 7.7 percent.

Online and mobile banking — KeyBank’s reason for closing its Altamont branch — is now more than double teller usage. In 2017, according to the FDIC, mobile and online banking were the primary method of banking for 52 percent households; in 2013, that number was about about 39 percent.

“Across the industry, banks of all sizes are making those investments in technology,” Conlin said. “That’s really where the customer expectations are these days; they’re looking to be able to bank when they want, where they want, and have 24-7 access to there [account].”

In June 2009, according to the FDIC, the number of bank branches operated by FDIC-insured institutions hit a high of almost 100,000; by 2017, that number was 89,847. The FDIC was created during the Great Depression to restore Americans’ trust in the banking system; it’s a government corporation that provides insurance to depositors in commercial banks and savings institutions.

Asked if KeyBank planned to close any more branches, Conlin said, “It’s a continuous review process, so that is possible; it’s an ongoing process.”

According to the FDIC, as of June 2018, there were 24 banking institutions with a total of 286 branches in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Area, which is made up of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie counties. TrustCo Bank had 54 branches; KeyBank had 44; Citizens Bank had 22; Bank of America had 19; and Pioneer Savings Bank had 19 branches.

KeyBank has about 40 percent of the banking business in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Area, more than doubling its nearest competitor, Citizens Bank, with a 15.5 percent market share, according to the FDIC. In 1994, the earliest data available, Key Bank was also the market leader although it had less than 20 percent of the area’s banking business.