Commonwealth Bank to shut at Guildford, Cumberland Council calls for government inquiry

Another bank branch closure in Sydney’s west has sparked calls for a federal government inquiry – with one councillor suggesting a novel solution to meet communities’ banking needs.

The closure of yet another bank branch in Sydney’s west has sparked uproar from a local council – with calls for a government inquiry and pleas to keep its doors open to support the community.

Commonwealth Bank has revealed it will shut its Guildford branch less than a year after the its Toongabbie branch closed.

The move has prompted Cumberland Mayor Lisa Lake to call for an inquiry into the impact closures are having on metropolitan areas.

At its April 5 meeting, Cumberland Council unanimously supported Cr Lake’s motion to seek assistance from the federal government and call for an inquiry into the effects of bank closures in Sydney.

Cr Lake said just as the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee was looking into bank closures in regional Australia, “it’s important that a similar inquiry be undertaken for bank closures in metropolitan Australia”.

Cumberland’s high number of non-English speaking residents and low internet usage has made a decision to close the bank at Guildford Rd on May 12 even harder.

“Cumberland is an area with a very high overseas born population and a high number of recent arrivals,’’ Cr Lake said.

The Commonwealth Bank at Guildford is slated to close in May.

Cumberland Mayor Lisa Lake wants an inquiry into bank closures. Picture: Tim Hunter

“In 2021, 53 per cent of our residents were born overseas and 25 per cent of them arrived in Australia after 2016. Many are from non-English speaking backgrounds.

“In Toongabbie, approximately 60 per cent of households use a language other than English at home with this number rising to 67 per cent in Pendle Hill and 75 per cent in Guildford.’’

Cr Lake said the figures were significantly greater than the NSW average at 29.5 per cent.

“It means that the closure of branches will be particularly problematic for the Cumberland community where many residents rely on over-the-counter service and access to staff to assist them with their banking needs,’’ she said.

The Commonwealth Bank shut its doors at Toongabbie in September, three years after it closed its Pendle Hill branch. The Westmead branch, in the Parramatta local government area but used by many Cumberland residents, shut in December 2018.

The Commonwealth Bank is not the only institution to cease face-to-face services.

St George shut at Wentworthville in late 2018.

Cr Lake said access to services was critical to the community, which, the 2016 Census showed, had a higher than greater Sydney average of households that did not access the internet from their home.

The Commonwealth Bank at Toongabbie shut seven months ago.

The nearest branches to Guildford are Merrylands and Granville.

Commonwealth Bank regional general manager Irene Rowlands said customers could travel to Stockland Merrylands, Fairfield, Granville and Chester Hill branches.

“We’ve found 42 per cent of Guildford customers already visit these other branches,’’ she said.

But Cr Lake said: “This travel will provide additional barriers to low-income households as well as elderly residents that do not drive.

“There should be an increased focus on greater accessibility to services within Cumberland by businesses our community relies on, not a deliberate strategy to remove access to key services.’’

The Commonwealth Bank defended its decision to close the Guildford branch after it blamed a drop in customer numbers.

“Customer demand at our Guildford branch has progressively declined, with a 45 per cent drop in transactions over the five years before the coronavirus pandemic,’’ Ms Rowlands said.

“After a recent review, we made the difficult decision to permanently close our Guildford branch.”

Ms Rowlands said there was a clear preferential shift towards digital and phone banking and it was working closely to redeploy Guildford staff to neighbouring branches, so there would not be job losses “as a result of this decision”.

She said the company was proud to maintain the largest branch network in the country.

“We invest around $50 million in our branch network each year to upgrade or refurbish existing branches and open new branches where we see customer demand,’’ she said.

Australia Post’s banking service is also available at Guildford.

The council has already written to the Commonwealth Bank and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority in an effort to save the Guildford branch.

The Commonwealth Bank’s days at Guildford are numbered.

It is understood CBA has referred the matter internally to its group customer relations team for investigation and response.

The council expects a response from the federal government this week.

A spokeswoman for Financial Services Minister and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the decision for branch closures was a commercial decision for banks.

“However, banks should be explaining and consulting on these decisions with their staff, customers and the local community,’’ she said.

“The government understands that branch closures are disruptive for customers, particularly those who are more vulnerable and may prefer access to face-to-face banking services, as well as on small businesses that need to access and deposit cash.’’

On 8 February, regional bank branch closures were referred to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, with a report to be handed down by December 1.

“The government will consider the findings of this inquiry, including where they may apply more broadly to branch closures across the country,’’ the spokeswoman said.

Post office solution

Re-establish Australia Post offices into public banks.

That has been the suggestion from Cumberland councillor Michael Zaiter as the community battles to save the Commonwealth Bank’s Guildford branch from closure.

At its April 19 meeting, Cr Zaiter, who is also a chartered accountant, urged the federal government to review the viability of establishing an Australian postal bank in an effort to continue face-to-face financial services in the community.

“Online and electronic banking services may work for some of our residents, but many of our elderly, and residents from non-English speaking backgrounds are being significantly impacted by these branch closures.’’

“Many of our elderly residents are not computer savvy and do not have the ability to travel across several suburbs to visit an out-of- town branch.

Granville post office.

Cr Zaiter said while residents were left to depend on the limited financial services through Bank@Post, they were charged excessive transaction fees and its future was not guaranteed.

He said that was because the service was subject to contractual agreements with the banks, which could opt out of the service if it impacted their bottom line.

He said the re-establishment of a public financial institution would force the major banks to review their cost structures and service.

“A straightforward and cost-effective way to re-establish this public financial institution would be to utilise our existing network of Australia Post’s corporate and licensed post offices to provide basic banking services such as deposit-taking, business and personal lending, and access to cash,’’ Cr Zaiter said.

“This would allow the retention of an essential financial service within our local communities and provide Australia Post with a new income stream.’’

The council will now write to federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and local MPs to their support and representation on the issue.