Although gloomy news about the nationwide banking industry has dominated recent headlines, new bank offices have proliferated in Wisconsin in the last few years, both statewide and in metro Milwaukee – and there’s little sign of easing up.

As of June 30, just-released statistics by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. show that Wisconsin has 2,389 bank offices, compared with 2,116 in 2000 – a 13% increase. From 2000 through the end of 2007, the state’s population increased only about 4%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Kurt Bauer, president of the Wisconsin Bankers Association, said that industry futurists started predicting 10 years ago that brick-and-mortar bank branches would be less prevalent as more people bank online, over the phone or with ATMs.