Bank branch closures hit ‘crisis proportions’, Finance Sector Union warns

The aggressive closure of bank branches has hit ‘crisis proportions’ as the Commonwealth Bank axes 14 at its Bankwest unit, a finance union warns. Find out where.

The aggressive closure of bank branches has hit “crisis proportions” as the Commonwealth Bank axes 14 at its Bankwest unit and curtails trading hours at further locations, the Finance Sector Union has warned.

The FSU issued a statement on Tuesday calling on the federal government to conduct an inquiry into the impact of bank branch closures, particularly on regional areas.

Bankwest will shut 14 branches across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, a move which leaves no branches outside the division’s home state. Trading hours are to be cut at 29 regional locations in Western Australia.

Bankwest put the closures down to changing customer needs saying while the bank had grown its east customer base by 8 per cent since 2018, branches in those states were now averaging just 25 transactions per day.

Executive general manager Jason Chan said Bankwest wanted to invest in areas where customers preferred to engage with the bank, such as online and mortgage broker services.

The Finance Sector Union said CBA is closing 14 of its Bankwest branches and curtailing trading hours at further locations. Picture: Jeremy Piper/NCA NewsWire

The FSU outlined that some 126 employees were facing redundancy, with cuts including state lending managers, home lenders, customer consultants and branch tellers.

But the bank said it intended to retain impacted staff within Bankwest and CBA in other customer service roles.

The major banks are all seeking to keep a lid on costs as home lending volumes slow, meaning they are all eyeing branch cuts.

Westpac in July admitted it may axe a further 100 branches over 18 months as it merges branches of its main brand with those of others such as St George.

Westpac said it had already co-located 21 branches and was “reviewing opportunities” for about 100 more, within its branch network of 800 outlets.

“The FSU has been concerned for years about the massive numbers of bank branches being closed, especially in regional areas. This trend has reached crisis proportions,” Julia Angrisano, the FSU’s national secretary, said.

“The FSU believes banking is an essential service and that all Australians, no matter where they live, have the right to access banking services in the manner they choose.

“The Commonwealth Bank and its subsidiary, Bankwest are abandoning customers and communities across the east coast … It is yet another case of the CBA putting profits before people.”

In WA, Bankwest is moving some branches to a two-to-four day week, down from five.

“While changes to the opening hours for 29 Bankwest branches in WA is regrettable and will impact the working lives of FSU members, the union believes this is preferable to closing down those branches,” Ms Angrisano said.

The NSW branches the FSU said the bank had notified them would close include Erina, Hurstville, Parramatta, Liverpool and George St in Sydney’s central business district.

In Victoria, the branches mooted to shut include Melbourne City, Fountain Gate, Plenty Valley, The Glen and Watergardens while in South Australia the Adelaide branch is being targeted for closure.

In Queensland, three branches are set to get the chop in Queen St, Brisbane, North Lakes and Helensvale.

Mr Chan said Bankwest was in a “strong position” to grow via mortgage brokers and other channels on the east coast of Australia.

CBA acquired Bankwest in the fallout from the global financial crisis.