Big Four Bank Westpac to Close Multiple Branches

Australian dollars in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 15, 2016. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

“Big Four” bank Westpac is closing several branches in Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) to the dismay of Australia’s Financial Sector Union (FSU).

The FSU said it has been notified by the bank that it is planning to close the Westpac branch in Newcastle along with four branches run by its subsidiary Bank of Melbourne.

This follows the bank announcing it would close 20 branches in 2023, before backtracking on eight of these closures amid community pressure.

FSU National President Wendy Streets noted banks were an essential service and raised concerns customers were being pushed into digital banking.

“This is not about customers preferring digital banking as Westpac claims. Having booked a $1.5 billion first-quarter profit last month, you would think Westpac could continue to offer banking services to customers within its existing branch network. Instead Westpac continues to slash at its infrastructure and people,” Ms. Streets said.

She claimed that 30 staff at the bank would be “dumped onto the unemployment queue” and customers would have to go elsewhere.

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In a fact sheet on the Werribee Plaza branch closure, Westpac subsidiary Bank of Melbourne claims many customers are now banking digitally.

“Over the past several years, we’ve seen many changes to how our customers are banking. More of our Werribee Plaza customers are choosing to do their personal and business banking online, via mobile app or by video appointments, rather than in-branch. ” the bank said (pdf).

“Rest assured, we remain committed to helping you securely take care of your day-to-day banking needs—locally, at home, or on the go.”

Westpac chief customer engagement officer Ross Miller confirmed the bank has decided to close multiple branches.

“With more choice in where customers do their banking and an increasing preference for digital, we’ve made the decision to close some branch locations,” he said in quotes cited by Daily Mail.

Mr. Miller indicated they would help impacted staff find new job opportunities, with many likely to continue working at Westpac.

“'We have a robust process in place to assist employees to find new opportunities as we invest and grow our phone, digital and virtual offerings. In most cases, employees impacted will continue to work with Westpac,” he said.

In February 2023, the bank announced it would be closing 20 bank branches around Australia. However, the bank cancelled closures of eight regional branches in Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia.

At the time, the FSU said the bank should go further and cancel the closure of all 20 branches.

“If Westpac can cancel closures in some areas because of a Senate Inquiry, it should cancel closures everywhere,” the national secretary Julia Angrisano said at the time.

The union said Westpac branches in Newtown, Potts Point, Kin Kora, Milton, and Brandon Park should not close, nor should Bank of Melbourne branches in Casey, Chirnside Park, Moonee Ponds, Melton Woodgrove, South Melbourne, Malvern, and Waurn Ponds.

Senate Inquiry Told Remote Australians Having to Fly to the City with Suitcases Full of Cash

Meanwhile, a Senate inquiry into the closure of banks in rural and regional Australia has heard remote communities are having to fly to the city with “suitcases full of cash” after Westpac closed a regional branch in Western Australia.

Residents have been left with a 700-kilometre round trip to the nearest bank in Karratha after the bank closed a branch at Tom Price in the Pilbara region in late 2022.

Some business owners have been flying to Perth with bags of money to avoid the long drive to the nearest branch, while other residents have been robbed at home while stashing large sums of cash, AAP reported.

Shire of Ashburton President Audra Smith questioned why this “inequality was being condoned and tolerated in small regions and remote communities.

“None of this would be considered acceptable if (it) occurred in metropolitan centres,”  she told the inquiry.

Not the Only Bank

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) subsidiary Bankwest announced it would close 45 branches in Western Australia.

The bank will become “digital only” by October 2024. To explain the change, the bank claimed 97 percent of transactions were now completed digitally and only two percent of customers visited a branch.

However, the bank closed multiple branches in Western Australia and on the East Coast in 2022 and 2023.

Commenting on the move, Bankwest executive general manager Jason Chan expressed empathy to customers but explained the bank was investing in digital services.

“I understand this will be difficult news for some of our customers and Bankwest is introducing a range of support measures to help our customers who are regular branch users carefully through this transition,” Mr. Chan said.

FSU national assistant secretary Jason Hall described the decision as “outrageous” and raised concerns the vulnerable in the community would be impacted.

“This decision will be bad for banking in WA. It will be bad for business as a large network of branches disappears and it will be bad for our members who stand to lose their jobs,” Mr. Hall said.

“This is an outrageous decision by Bankwest which has completely abandoned its customer base in order to cut costs and become a digital bank.”

Annual point of presence statistics, released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in late 2022, showed 424 physical bank branches were closed in Australia in the 2023 financial year.

There was a 10.6 percent reduction in bank branches, along with a 11.2 percent cut in automatic teller machines (ATM) in the financial year.

APRA noted there was a continuing trend for lost bank branches in regional areas, with 122 lost in the 2023 fiscal year.

“This continues a trend that has seen branch numbers decline by 34 percent in regional and remote areas, and 37 percent overall, since the end of June 2017,” APRA said.