Blackburn: banks and free ATM leave suburb

A BLACKBURN shopping strip is losing the last of its banking services and free ATMs, with traders worried the limited cash options will force customers to shop elsewhere.

A BLACKBURN shopping strip is losing the last of its banking services and free ATMs, with traders worried the limited cash options will force customers to shop elsewhere.

Westpac’s Blackburn branch, at 128 South Pde, will stop trading on Friday September 7, and the Westpac ATM will be removed from the street.

With half of the customers the branch manages doing their everyday banking online, the bank is closing the Blackburn access-point, said a Westpac spokesman who did not want to be named.

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She said the decision was “due to a significant decline in foot traffic at the Westpac Blackburn branch and a surge in customers preferring to bank with (Westpac) via digital channels”.

Joseph Vitile, who works at Cellarbration’s South Pde store, said the move was going to hit customers.

“It’s going to be a problem,” he said. “A lot of people want cash out.”

The only ATMs to remain will incur transaction fees.

“All the shopkeepers feel the same,” he said.

Two ATMs were previously out the front of the liquor store before they were removed.

Mr Vitile said the Commonwealth Bank ATM was disabled in June 2015, and the ANZ ATM was taken out in February this year.

He said their removal caused “a huge uproar” with customers wanting to be able to access and use cash, particularly older people in the area.

He said people were still walking into the store in search of the ANZ ATM, because it remained listed at the address online.

Blackburn Newsagent manager Louise White said her shop also experienced a lot of complaints when the ATMs disappeared.

“It’s a big concern of ours,” she said.”

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Ms White said the newsagent would have to drop a minimum required spend for purchases on card, incurring more bank fees for the small business.

It will also have to change its admin practices with its bank no longer as accessible.

Fat Cup Cafe owner Ricky Leung, whose business is also on South Parade, said: “It’s going to cause a bit of inconvenience.”

Mr Leung said about half of the cafe’s customers made purchases using cash.

Two independent ATMs will be left in Blackburn Station Village.

One, located within IGA supermarket on South Pde, has a transaction fee of $2.80, and the other, inside Blackburn Hotel, has a minimum withdrawal fee of $2.

The closest Westpac branches are now at Forest Hill, Box Hill, Vermont South and Ringwood.