A Coles store in the Kimberley region of Western Australia has had to cease issuing cash-out for customers, citing recent bank closures as the reason.
The measure is only temporary and impacting the one store at this stage, Coles confirmed. The move comes on the back of a raft of bank closures in the area.
Bankwest shuttered a branch in the regional town in August 2022 amid staffing challenges, and has now advised this measure will be permanent.
A spokesperson for Coles highlighted the move to pause cash was prompted by higher demand, noting that the store is not equipped to handle large amounts of cash from an operational perspective.
“While Coles usually offers the convenience of facilitating cash-out for our customers, due to the increase in demand, we have made the decision to pause the option of cash-out at our Kununurra store,” a Coles spokesperson told The Epoch Times.
“We understand this is a challenging time for the community, however, we are not operationally equipped to handle large volumes of cash.”
Bankwest’s closure of the Kununurra bank branch, along with at least two other branches in Western Australia, was announced in January as part of the bank’s shift towards digital banking.
Maddington and Armadale branches in Perth will also be closing as the bank concentrates on a digital future, with 97 percent of transactions taking place online.
“With over 97% of Bankwest customer transactions now occurring in digital channels, like the Bankwest app and online banking, we’ve seen a continual decline in branch transactions.
“After careful consideration, we will permanently close the Kununurra Branch and its ATM at Shop 1, Kununurra Shopping Centre on Thursday, April 18, 2024. This branch has been closed since August 2022 due to ongoing resourcing challenges and will not be reopening.”
Regional and remote areas of Australia are increasingly relying on local post offices to provide cash amid regional bank closures.
“Where we are the only banking service in town, we will work with that community to ensure that the basic services are provided, but it will become increasingly difficult ... in terms of finding people to actually work in those places,” Australia Post CEO Paul Graham told the Senate, Environment and Communications Legislation Committee on Feb. 13.
“Customers are looking for a broader scope of services. Small businesses particularly feel that they’re not able to access what they would traditionally access through their banking branches. And the provision of cash has become an issue,” Mr. Graham said in Senate estimates.
“Whilst a lot of people say cash is going to die, we certainly don’t see that, particularly in certain demographics, and also in certain neighbourhoods where cash is still prevalent.”
Notably, 122 of these closed branches were in regional and remote areas, highlighting a trend in Australia that has been increasing in recent years.
“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,” the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said on Oct. 18.
