Commonwealth Bank’s Bankwest to shut down all branches as the company goes digital

Customers are furious as a major regional Australian bank, which is part of CBA, announced closures of every branch in favour of online banking.

Bankwest’s decision to close its branches and move online has been met with fury by customers.

The 130-year-old former Bank of Western Australia has 60 branches. Of those, 45 will close while 15 in regional areas will be rebranded under the banner of Commonwealth Bank, which owns Bankwest.

The bank said the decision followed “rapidly changing customer preferences,” and that the axing of its branch network would “unlock a range of long-term benefits for Western Australia”.

It said that fewer than two per cent of customers visited a branch regularly and 97 per cent of transactions now occurring digitally.

Bankwest said on average just 15 over-the-counter transactions occurred in regional WA every day.

The announcement has been met with anger by many customers who have threatened to take their business elsewhere in retaliation.

Bankwest customers have not responded positively to the news of online banking. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The overwhelming sentiment among customers was concern for staff who could lose their jobs, elderly people who might not know how to use digital banking, and a perceived lack of clarity about how the transition would work.

Bankwest replied to nearly every individual comment on the post to address people’s qualms, creating an FAQ page and pinning the link to the top of the post.

“Well after banking with Bankwest since my childhood I’ll be leaving and changing to a bank with branches,” one woman wrote.

“While I don’t use them often, if I wanted to bank with a digital bank I would have moved to one.”

Another man commented “more people without a job, well done”, to which Bankwest responded that “branch colleagues remain an important part of Bankwest’s future”.

“We are dedicated to support our impacted branch staff, who have invaluable knowledge and experience,” they said.

“They will have access to the next generation of banking jobs with alternative career pathways available.”

Adding to the concern about how elderly people can maintain their banking, one woman suggested the “majority of the elderly do their banking in stores”.

“How do you offer alternative options if they cannot use online banking (a computer or a smartphone) or have hearing impairment and find it hard to speak over the phone, especially to people who don’t speak English clearly,” she wrote.

“Some elderly or even disabled people don’t have trusted family members or friends in their lives who can assist with their banking, so they trust your workers to assist them and not have the possibility of being involved in financial abuse from family members or caregivers.”

Bankwest set to close 60 branches in Western Australia by October. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Bankwest replied and assured the customer that “depending on the services required, Bankwest customers can do their face-to-face banking at Australia Post”.

“Bank@Post allows customers to withdraw and deposit cash into their Bankwest accounts with their debit card,” they said.

Bank@Post is an initiative between Australia Post and more than 80 banks, allowing people and small businesses to deposit cash and cheques, withdraw money and make balance inquiries for free at participating post offices, including more than 1,800 in rural and remote locations.

Bankwest customers will be able to use Bank@Post in lieu of attending a branch. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Earlier

The bank said that fewer than two per cent of customers visited a branch regularly and 97 per cent of transactions now occurring digitally.

Bankwest added that on average just 15 over-the-counter transactions occurred in regional WA every day.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has labelled the ending of Bankwest’s physical presence as a “broken promise” and said CBA was being “tricky” and had always been keen to phase out Bankwest.

The decision comes amid a senate inquiry into regional banking services, as banks desert regional hubs across Australia.

The WA government sold Bankwest to Britain’s Bank of Scotland in 1995 which itself became part of the London based Lloyds Banking Group. In 2008, Lloyds sold Bankwest to Commonwealth Bank for $2.1 billion.

CBA expanded the Bankwest brand to major east coast cities as a challenger brand, despite it being owned by the nation’s largest bank. But then in 2018 it retreated to being a WA only bank.

Bankwest has been wholly owned by CBA since 2008. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

‘Difficult news’

Bankwest executive general manager Jason Chan said he recognised the move would be challenging for some customers and supporting customers through the change and retaining affected staff were his “main priorities”.

“It’s critical we prioritise investment for the majority of our customers who expect leading digital and broker banking services, and rarely use branches, but we have a clear focus on the needs of our regular branch users at this time.”

Mr Chan said Bankwest employees would be provided with “opportunities to continue to serve customers in digital channels”.

“Our branch colleagues have invaluable knowledge and experience, and they will all be offered opportunities to access the next generation of banking jobs so they can continue to support customers nationwide from in their own communities,” he said.

In addition, 500 CBA Group roles in technology, operations, and customer service will move to WA “in support of Bankwest’s digital transition”.

“Bankwest is now 129 years old and we’ll continue to evolve in the years to come to ensure we remain a sustainable, growing, and successful WA-based business, and a major WA employer, in a highly competitive national banking sector.”

Mr Chan said that there would be a “clear and distinct choice” for customers between CBA’s personal and business banking with branches and “Bankwest’s simple and easy digital and broker offering, focused on homeowners’ needs”.

David Littleproud has labelled the move a broken promise. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

‘Broken promise’

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has labelled the branch closures a “broken promise” by the CBA following its commitment not to close any Bankwest branches until 2026.

“All they’ve been is tricky and they’re playing on the fact that they’ve got two brands over here (in WA) and I get it, they wanted to merge them into one at some point,” he told 6PR radio on Wednesday.

“But if you make a promise to the Australian people and you’re the biggest bank in the country, well, follow through with it, otherwise you don’t have a social licence to operate in this country.”

Mr Littleproud reiterated the difficulties the closures could cause for regional customers and said a postal office network could be a solution.

“When you’re out in the bush, you can’t jump on a bus and get to the next suburb to get to an ATM,” he said.

None of this anymore at Bankwest.

“Cash is important particularly in regional and remote areas, so I think the post offices have a role to play.”

State opposition leader and WA Nationals leader Shane Love said he had received “assurances” from Bankwest that communities would be given the chance to transition to CBA customers.

“The proof of this good intent will come over time. At this point, Bankwest and CBA have committed to continue employing their regional staff with CBA providing services in every community where a Bankwest branch has been present until now,” he said.

About 2100 branches have been shuttered across all major banking institutions over the past six years.