People First Bank and Heritage bank addresses change of hours

A major Toowoomba financial institution has responded to fears redundancies and changing trading hours would lead to regional branch closures in towns west of the city. Here’s what we know:

Generic photo of someone carrying a box of office supplies. Picture: Canva

A major financial institution has responded to reports multiple regional branches could be up for closure amid changing trading hours and dozens of positions being made redundant over the past six months.

The change in trading hours for the remaining Heritage bank branches in Pittsworth, Millmerran, Oakey and Stanthorpe comes after it was revealed People First Bank, a merger between Toowoomba’s Heritage Bank and South Australian Bank People’s Choice Credit Union, had made 29 positions across the state redundant within the last six months, some only weeks out from Christmas.

Sixteen of those positions were from Toowoomba. 

Heritage Bank head office building in Ruthven St now displays the merged rebranded name of People First Bank, Friday, June 21, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Weeks out from the Christmas holidays, Heritage customers in Pittsworth, Stanthorpe, Oakey and Millmerran were informed of changing office hours, from 9.30am to 1pm, Monday to Friday.

Oakey Chamber of Commerce president David Cooper said the news was “disappointing” and done without any community consultation, expressing fears this was one step towards the branch closing.

The fears come after National Bank of Australia has been pulling services from regional areas in the last few years, and most recently closing up its Pittsworth branch.

Mr Cooper, originally with NAB had started to set up accounts with Heritage so he “could deal with a bank that was able to do cash transactions face-to-face”.

In a regional town like Oakey, cash is still very much in use, and having a branch where you can deposit and withdraw safely was key to keeping businesses and clients in town, he said.

“A critical part of the fabric of a community is having essential elements such as banking, shopping and medical services,” he said.

“If you take that away from the community it negatively impacts the viability of the town.”

In Pittsworth, the sentiment and fears were the same, and Rhonda Ashton, the town’s District Alliance president, said that so many people, particularly the elderly, still rely on the services a physical branch can offer.

Heritage Bank and People's Choice CEO Peter Lock has revealed the new merger's name will be People First Bank.

“What banks don’t realise is that by leaving they are killing the country towns,” she said.

The changing trading hours would start from January 2, 2025 and would also apply to two South Australian Branches, People First Bank chief customer officer Maria-Ann Camilleri said.

“There is no plan to close these branches in the immediate future – our decision will ensure we can maintain face-to-face services for these communities,” she said.

Branch transactions have “reduced significantly”, and more customers were using card payments, ATMs, internet banking and the bank’s app, she said.

“These revised hours will ensure Heritage can continue offering face-to-face services and local full-time jobs (as employees will support our call centre in the afternoons) in these locations while adapting to evolving customer preferences.”

Founded in Toowoomba in 1875, Heritage Bank was one of the oldest banks, initially starting out as a building society and is proudly part of Toowoomba’s history, supporting a number of integral community events, such as the Toowoomba Agricultural Show and the city’s Business Excellence Awards.

In October 2024, People First Bank reported growth in lending and retail deposits, bringing a 29 per cent increase in net profit and drawing in 47,000 new customers.

The bank revealed plans last month to build a new five storey, 600-staff office space in the Toowoomba CBD for completion in 2027.

Originally published as People First Bank and Heritage bank addresses change of hours