REGIONAL banking could come under the scrutiny of a parliamentary inquiry as local branches close their doors.
Nationals Senator for NSW Perin Davey is leading a push to examine the banking services on offer to regional Australians and said the closures had left people “high and dry”.
The Commonwealth Bank branch in Merbein closed its doors in February and a branch in Red Cliffs is set to close on July 9. ATMs at both branches will also close.
Member for Mallee Anne Webster backed Ms Davey’s call for an inquiry.
“While many may do banking online, the truth is that there are many in our communities who don’t,” Dr Webster said. “We need to ensure that no one is left behind.”
According to the Financial Services Union, the closures are two of more than 640 branches from the big four banks that have closed since the beginning of 2017 — most in regional Australia.
“We’ve seen an acceleration of rural and regional branch closures,” Ms Davey said.
“In the last year, 97 branches in both New South Wales and Victoria have been closed.”
In a statement to Sunraysia Daily this month, CommBank regional general manager Sally Gubbin said the Red Cliffs branch had closed after a 55 per cent drop in transactions over the past five years.
“Following a recent review, and in line with our lease expiry, we made the difficult decision to permanently close our Red Cliffs branch,” Ms Gubbin said.
“We recognise some senior customers prefer to do their banking face-to-face and this is one of the reasons why CBA is proud to maintain the largest branch network in the country.
“We’ve recently invested $1.8 million in our presence in Mildura and welcome our Red Cliffs customers to our Mildura branch.”
The closures leave Merbein with a Bendigo Bank branch and an Australia Post office. Red Cliffs will be left with two ATMs — a Westpac and a cashcard ATM — but no bank.
Ms Davey said Australia Post filled some gaps, but couldn’t provide the full range of services available at a bank branch.
She said a parliamentary inquiry could look into solutions and alternatives, including a banking services model similar to government services offices.
“I would like an inquiry to look at is not only the impact on the individual consumer, but also impacts on business values.”
“There’s the impact on businesses when they need to bank their cash. Some businesses (in other regional areas) are saying that they’ve got to drive between 50 and 100km to the nearest bank to deposit cash.
“There is Bank at Post, but they only offer a limited range of services. And you don’t get the financial advice, or the full suite of services that you get from a bank branch.”
Ms Davey said she had been in talks with Senate colleagues and was confident a motion for an inquiry could pass when Federal Parliament returned from recess in August.
“I think I’ll be able to get enough support to actually raise an inquiry and have a look at what’s going on.
“At the very least we’ll be asking the banks to explain themselves and to explain why they’re turning their backs on regional people.”
