Indiana-based First Commonwealth Bank is consolidating 29 branch offices in Pennsylvania and Ohio, including the Sarver branch, by the end of the year.

The consolidations are part of the bank's “Project Thrive” initiative, which calls for a 20 percent reduction in the number of branches and investment in digital technology for online and mobile banking.

The six employees who work at the Sarver branch, which opened in May 2002, as well as the employees at the 28 other affected branches will have the opportunity to transfer to other branches.

“Our goal is to have a job impact of zero,” said Jonathan Longwill, First Commonwealth Bank spokesman. “Significantly minimal employment impact, if any.”

He said transfers of 95 percent of the impacted employees have already been approved and the bank continues to work with the rest of those employees.

The bank anticipates that customers of the closing branches will visit the open branches, and those branches will need additional staff.

The bank's branch in Saxonburg will remain open, Longwill said.

The goal of investing in digital technology is to improve online and mobile banking services used by current customers and to attract more customers, he said.

Customer use of the bank's digital banking options is one reason for the consolidation.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the bank saw a 15 to 20 percent decrease in the number transactions conducted in the branches over the past four or five years. At the same time, digital banking use tripled with nearly three-quarters of customers using digital service, Longwill said.

Use of the bank's call center and online chat service also increased.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove even more customers to digital banking, he said.

Most — a total of 21 — of the branches facing consolidation are in Pennsylvania and the other eight are in Ohio. The bank has a total of 148 branches in both states.