The number of U.S. bank and thrift branches continued todecline in the second quarter, with 353 net closures, bringing the total numberof branches at June 30 down to 92,231. Specifically, there were 537 closures and184 openings, according to an analysis by SNL Financial, an offering of S&PGlobal Market Intelligence.

Fifth ThirdBancorp was the leading branch closer in the second quarter, trimmingits network down to 1,228 branches with 42 net closures. During the Deutsche BankGlobal Financial Services Conference on June 1, President and CEO Gregory Carmichaelsaid that Fifth Third finished executingits plan, announced in June 2015,to reduce its branch count by 107 by the middle of 2016 through sales and consolidations.

In 2016, the Cincinnati-based bank its retail operations in the and metro areas, which includedthe sale of 17 branches to F.N.B. Corp.completed in April. Carmichaelexpects the branch reductions to drive $60 million in annual cost savings, includinga reduction of approximately 400 full-time employees.

Illinois saw the highest number of branch closures in thesecond quarter, with a net decline of 43 branches — 47 closings and four openings.Of the 47 closings, 33 came from TCFFinancial Corp. The Wayzata, Minn.-based bank was the second-leadingbranch closer in the second quarter.

As announced in February,unit TCF National Bankclosed 33 branches inside Jewel-Osco stores by the end of May and replaced themwith full-function, image-enabled ATMs. TCF Financial's branch network was expectedto have declined more than 20% by the second quarter compared to 2011, as mentionedin a presentation madeby the company June 15 at the Morgan Stanley Financials Conference.

Michigan lost 36 net branches during the second quarter,including branches of Chemical FinancialCorp. The Midland, Mich.-based company April 15 closed 11 branch locations,which were identified as having a small core deposit base and/or were in close proximityto other Chemical Banksites, according to its Form 10-Qfiled in April. The company opened two branches in Michigan in April, in Saginawand Tuscola, based on SNL data.

Pennsylvania saw a net decline of 30 branches during thesecond quarter, including closures from Northwest Bancshares Inc. The Warren-based company on April26 completed the optimization of its office network, in which it consolidated 24offices into nearby locations and converted two full-service offices into drive-uponly facilities.

The parent company of NorthwestBank expects to incur approximately $5.0 million in expenses associatedwith the changes during the first half of 2016, according to its filed in May.

Among the large-cap banks, JPMorganChase & Co. had 18 net branch closures. Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. both ended the quarter with nine netbranch closures.

Meanwhile, Short Hills, N.J.-based Investors Bancorp Inc. was the only institution with threeor more net openings during the second quarter.