NAB will close Ocean Grove branch on November 30

NAB has announced it will close another local branch later this year, leaving residents with even fewer options for physical banking.

NAB will close its Ocean Grove branch later this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

NAB will close its Ocean Grove branch later this year, leaving residents with even fewer options for physical banking.

The decision to shut the doors of the branch, located on The Terrace, on November 30 means there will be no NAB branches on the Bellarine Peninsula.

NAB retail customer executive Larna Manson said the number of customers heading into branches to do their physical banking is dropping across Australia.

“The decision to close a branch is never easy,” she said.

“More than 93 per cent of transactions across Australia taking place online,” she said.

Ms Manson said about 90 per cent of Ocean Grove customers were registered for online banking.

The nearest NAB branch to Ocean Grove is located inside the Bellarine Village Shopping Centre in Newcomb, about 20km away.

It is understood the NAB ATM will also be removed.

“NAB customers can continue to use nearby ATMs from other banks, with no fees,” Ms Manson said.

She said there will be no job losses as part of the branch closure.

“Our branch team will be provided with new opportunities across NAB, including the branch in the Bellarine Village Shopping Centre,” Ms Manson said.

Ocean Grove residents expressed their disappointment on social media, saying it was “sad for the community”.

“What a disgrace,” one resident commented.

“Not good for the town and certainly good for the general public who need to use the branch,” another said.

According to NAB, 864 personal banking customers visited the branch more than three times in a year, between January to December last year.

Only 70 business banking customers went into the branch more than 12 times a year.

The branch’s staff will assist customers who need additional support with online banking and also introduce them the Bank@Post service at the Ocean Grove post office.

NAB closed its High St, Belmont branch in March.

There will now be five NAB branches in Greater Geelong and one in Torquay.

Multiple major banks have closed branches in the Geelong region within the last 12 months.

Commonwealth Bank closed its Drysdale location in September last year due to a drop in physical banking transactions at the branch.

Bendigo Bank permanently closed two of its branches in Belmont and Newcomb last year, blaming staff shortages, after the locations were temporarily shut during Covid lockdowns.

Originally published as NAB will close Ocean Grove branch on November 30