By Phyllis Salowe-Kaye Bank branches were once as common as Starbucks-on main streets, in strip malls and small-town centers in suburban and rural America. But the number of brick-and-mortar branches has declined every year since 2012, leading to the growth of banking deserts everywhere, including New Jersey. And unless we take steps to curb the problem, our most vulnerable residents will continue to suffer. Recently this crisis led to an Ocean County Board of Commissioners review of branch closings in that county that left many communities without any banks. Bank closures have caused great di…