Yahoo Finance Westpac to close another 23 branches
Westpac is closing down another 23 branches across Australia, including in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.
The move will have a major impact on regional towns, with a number left without a local branch, according to the Finance Sector Union (FSU).
Impacted towns include Coober Pedy, Kapunda and Tailem Bend in South Australia, and Carnamah in Western Australia.
Also read: Bankwest shutters all east coast branches
Also read: ‘Crisis point’ as 37 major bank branches close: ‘Must act’
Hay in NSW will be left with just one local Commonwealth Bank branch when the Westpac branch closes.
“We need the Federal Government to step in and stop the banks from deserting regional Australia,” Julia Angrisano, FSU national secretary, told news.com.au.
“Banks can’t be trusted to do the right thing by regional communities because, when considering whether to close branches, they only consider their massive profits and the bonuses of senior executives.”
Other branches set to close include Campbelltown and Moree in NSW, Port Douglas in Queensland, Beaumaris, Endeavour HIlls and Gisborne in Victoria, and Katherine in the Northern Territory.
St.George, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA - which are all owned by Westpac - are also set to close branches across Australia.
St.George is set to shut its Townsville and Cairns branches in Queensland, its North Sydney branch in NSW, and Weston branch in the ACT.
Bank of Melbourne is closing Melbourne branches in Greensborough, Prahan and Sunshine, as well as branches in Horsham and Shepparton.
BankSA is set to close branches in Kapunda, Tailem Bend, Greenacres and Port Adelaide.
95 branches closed
The move means Westpac will have closed 95 branches over the past four months, according to the FSU.
In addition, 92 jobs will be lost as a result of the branch closures.
Last month, the Regional Banking Taskforce called on banks to improve communication with communities affected by closures.
In its final report, it urged banks to ensure local councils were forewarned of any closures.
Dozens of towns have been left without a local branch as a result of recent closures.
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.
