NAB shuts more branches as rural exodus continues in NSW, Victoria

Nationals MPs have expressed concern at the trend by the four major banks to leave smaller towns.

Nationals MP Steph Cooke says the closures show the city-country divide is ‘alive and kicking in the corporate world’

National Australia Bank has ramped up its exit from large swathes of regional Australia, announcing branch closures across five Riverina towns in NSW.

It’s an escalation of a trend by the four major banks to leave smaller towns in favour of growth corridors of Australia’s largest cities, which has irked Nationals MPs.

NAB confirmed yesterday it was closing branches in Ardlethan, Lockhart, Grenfell, Culcairn, and Barham in NSW and at Boort, and Euroa in Victoria, in June.

The Finance Sector Union of Australia last month said it was concerned about the rate ANZ was closing down branches across regional Australia.

The bank has shut up shop in the Queensland towns of Stanthorpe, Gladstone Central, Highfields, Ingham, Moura, Oakey and Chinchilla, the Western Australian towns of Moore and Gnowangerup, along with Rochester, Abbotsford and Heidelberg in Victoria.

NAB said it was investing more than $1.6 million into improving branches in Cowra, Seymour, Kerang, Tatura, Alexandra and Griffith, and installing and upgrading 32 ATMs.

“The way our customers are banking has changed dramatically in recent years,” said Paul Juergens, NAB’s head of retail.

“Increasingly we find that our customers are banking at other branches, or prefer to do their banking online. In the locations we are closing, more than 80 per cent of our customers are also using our other NAB branches in the area.”

Nationals MP Steph Cooke, the state member for Cootamundra, this week met ANZ district manager Craig Clarke to discuss the closure of Temora’s branch. She will also meet NAB’s regional manager later this month.

Bank branches shutting down Australia

“It’s still a terrible blow to ­Temora and it highlights to me that the city-country divide is, alas, alive and kicking in the corporate world,” Ms Cooke said.

Liberal MP Daryl Maguire, the member for Wagga Wagga, whose seat takes in the NAB closure in Lockhart, said there were other options for borrowers and savers.

“It is a commercial decision for NAB and I am pleased there are other alternatives in Lockhart, including Bendigo bank, which continue to fill the void and serve the needs of rural communities,” Mr Maguire told The Weekend ­Australian.

Earlier this month, The Australian revealed the big four banks had closed more than 100 ­branches over the past year.

According to an analysis of the latest official figures, CBA closed 13 outlets offering branch-level service over the 2017 financial year.

ANZ closed 30 branch-equivalent outlets, while Westpac shut 49. NAB has shut 18 since the 2016 financial year. Many banks are transferring their services to Australia Post offices.

CBA retains the nation’s biggest branch network with 1118 outlets, followed by Westpac, which has 1032, including St George, Bank of Melbourne and Bank SA-branded branches. NAB has 731 branches while ANZ has 688.

The profitability of bank branches remains under pressure from technological disruption and the digitisation of financial services. Many things, from mortgages to credit card applications, are occurring online.

At the same time fewer people are using cash and visiting bank branches.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said there were a total of 5841 bank branches across the country at the end of the last financial year. This was down 63 from the previous year.