ANZ closes Point Nepean Rd, Rosebud branch; elderly feel abandoned
The ANZ has closed another branch in the region, forcing customers to drive more than 20km for face-to- face banking.
South East
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A third ANZ branch has closed on the Mornington Peninsula, devastating the elderly and those who don’t drive.
The branch on Rosebud’s busy Point Nepean Rd shopping strip has been boarded up and the ATM removed.
Customers wanting face-to-face banking with ANZ will now have to drive 23km to Mornington or 30km to Hastings.
Angry locals said the decision was “all about money” with little care shown for customer needs.
“It’s very sad! My old man struggled with parking at Mornington and so I feel for the many that will struggle not having a local branch,” one man posted on social media.
Another customer said her whole family banked with ANZ, including her children who did not drive.
The move follows the closure of the Somerville and Mt Eliza branches in 2020.
Rosebud still has NAB and Commonwealth Bank branches.
The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano criticised the shutting of branches and said banks were putting their profits ahead of providing services to customers.
“Banks are still blaming customers for branch closures, claiming falsely that the public doesn’t value branches and prefer to complete their financial transactions online,” she said.
“It is the banks which prefer to force customers online because they can reduce staff numbers,
save money on wages and rents and increase profits.”
ANZ’s managing director of retail Katherine Bray said they had seen a “significant spike in customers choosing digital options”.
“Whenever we have to make a tough decision to close any of our branches, we notify customers and let them know about all the alternatives they have available,” she said.
“Of our employees that were working in a branch that closed last year, we were able to find new roles or redeployment opportunities for nearly all of them, including at remote locations.”
The Australian Banking Association’s chief executive officer Anna Bligh said an uptick in Australians doing their banking online was fuelling bank closures.
“Digital banking has changed the way Australians bank and the services they expect and COVID-19 has accelerated this change,” she said.
“Branch closures are not taken lightly by any bank and are always the result of a dramatic change in customer use.
“With any branch closure, most banks maintain face-to-face services through an existing outlet, a franchising arrangement with the community or agency arrangement with Australia Post.”