Tatura community devastated on announcement of NAB bank on Hogan St shutting down
For the people of this bustling Victorian town just 160km north of Melbourne, the closure of its last bank branch has left the locals rattled.
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In between the serves of chicken parmigiana and jugs of beer, there’s only one topic of discussion among the animated locals at Tatura’s bustling Lagozzino’s Top Pub.
It’s not the hotly contested AFL footy tipping comp or the Ashes — it’s the National Australia Bank’s decision to shut its only remaining branch in town in September, making it the last bank to abandon the town of 5000.
“Almost every table of the packed hotel at dinner spoke to me about it,” Top Pub owner Jenny Lagozzino said.
“I’m the only pub open so it’s very busy here, it’s flat out daily and everyone is talking to me about this bank closing.
“I’m (also) in Rotary so at the meeting it was discussed at length with great concern for the community.”
NAB’s decision, on the back of the Commonwealth Bank’s closure a year ago, is an especially tough blow for the central Victorian town’s older residents.
“My mother is almost 80 and doesn't drive now and has no banking facilities in town — business owners have no access to banks, change and facilities like EFTPOS,” Ms Lagozzino said.
Maree Young, 78, said she would have to rely on others to help her do her banking.
“I’ll wait for the kids to come and hopefully they will remember their nanny and take me into Shepparton to get my banking,’’ she said.
Retiree Richard Turner, 70, said many older people needed the face-to-face a branch provided to do their banking.
“Now that the NAB is closing, that has shut off any avenue these people have had,’’ he said.
“So where do they go? Unfortunately this is what’s happening and the bank is not interested in what we think.
Peter McIntyre, 63, said the closure was a slap in the face.
“They don’t care about people like me. They couldn’t care less,” he said.
“I’m a loyal customer of over 40 years who’s been banking there, you do the right thing. “I don’t know how to use a computer or anything — I’m in and out of hospital and now the nearest branch is Shepparton.”
Tatura Community Plan Committee chair and NAB customer Carl Walters said there had been plenty of grief since he received a letter from NAB on Wednesday informing customers of its decision.
“The two nearest branches are Kyabram and Shepparton and public transport, as you would know in the country, probably doesn’t really work much,’’ he said.
“We’ve got elderly people and people without a licence who would struggle to find their way to those towns to do their banking, and if you think about it, it’s probably $20 to get there and back in fuel alone.”
Mr Walters said the town would suffer an economic hit if people were forced to travel to do their banking.
“We’ve got two pretty big supermarkets already, we’ve got butchers and we don’t want to encourage people to go elsewhere to do their shopping and banking at the same time — it’s a bit dumb,” he said.
It’s a decision he finds baffling, as Tatura, unlike many other Victorian towns that have lost banks, is growing at a “rapid rate”.
“We’ve got more properties coming in, all the shops and businesses are full and they’re (the bank) walking out on it — so hopefully we can attract a local credit union or a local bank and get something going but that’s not a quick process,” he said.
“Over the last 15 years we had Bankwest, Westpac, ANZ, Commonwealth and (now) NAB.”
It’s not a situation unique to Tatura.
In a Senate committee hearing on March 2 in Sale, Wendy Streets from Finance Sector Union said there could have been “possibly 1600 plus” branch closures across the country since 2016, 500 of those in regional areas.
Shepparton Nationals MP Kim O‘Keeffe slammed NAB’s decision, and said the closure would have a “huge impact” on the small town already struggling to access “adequate banking services”.
“(It’s) Particularly disadvantaging to Tatura locals who may not drive or have access to a vehicle or the internet to access banking online or in another town,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“I am most concerned about Tatura’s elderly residents being closely connected to locals and local services.
“The ATM frequently runs out of cash, and the blatant disregard for the town’s banking needs, coupled with the lack of support and understanding, is truly appalling.”
Ms O’Keeffe said a NAB representative informed her that details of the branch’s closure were still being finalised.
According to NAB, the ATM will continue to operate, but the location may change due to leasing arrangements at its present locations on Hogan St.
“The community must have a reliable ATM and no delays of operation during this transition phase,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
Furthermore, she said businesses she spoke to depend “greatly” on visitors using the bank or the ATM.
“Tatura has many large successful events that businesses rely on, and having reliable access to money is critical to the success of many of those events and to ensure that money is spent locally,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
“This closure has left the town wondering what their options will be, with many left feeling disillusioned hearing about the large profits that banks are making.
“We are seeing banks becoming more disconnected to their customers and this has to be a step in the wrong direction.”
Disability support worker Angelina Ram said people such as her client Peter Mcntyre would be severely impacted
“He told me ‘why do we all have to suffer?’ Sadly it’s affecting them mentally,’’ she said.
“Plus we as carers are copping all their stress on us and mostly don’t know how to help them.”
NAB retail customer executive Larna Manson said the decision to close a branch was “never easy”, however, the number of customers coming into branches was dropping, with more than 93 per cent of transactions across Australia taking place online.
“More than 80 per cent of our Tatura customers who are registered for online banking are active users of the mobile app and online banking,” Ms Manson said.
“The Tatura team will be helping customers who need additional support with digital banking and also introducing them to the Bank@Post service down the road on Hogan St.
“It’s important to us that there will be no job losses as part of this change — our branch team will be provided new opportunities across NAB.”
Ms Manson said for businesses and agribusiness customers, there would be no change to the relationship they have with their existing bankers.
“Customers in Tatura and surrounds will continue to be serviced by their agribusiness, business or small business banker, as they are today,” she said.
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