Branch shuts, spurs call for citizens’ bank

CUSTOMERS c o ncerned about the impending closure of the MyState Bank at New Norfolk have been urged by Legislative Council president Craig Farrell to direct their energy towards establishing a community bank.

MyState has announced it will close its New Norfolk branch on November 7, leaving the Derwent Valley with just one bank. It will remove its ATM in January.

The announcement follows the closure of local ANZ and NAB branches in recent years. MyState has a long history in the town, with the credit union-turned bank now occupying the site of the town’s one-time Westpac branch.

“Like every other MyState customer, I am very disappointed to see our local branch close,” said Mr Farrell, who is Member for Derwent and President of the Legislative Council.

“Even those who aren’t customers are saddened by another business leaving our town.”

New Norfolk-based Mr Farrell said he had transferred to MyState when ANZ left the town, doing so on the basis that MyState was locally based and wouldn’t move out.

“We have a great Commonwealth Bank branch and I hope it stays, but I think we need to protect ourselves against any decisions made by remote head offices and give locals a choice,” Mr Farrell said.

“As with the other major banks, once a decision is made — that is it. We should direct our energy into establishing a community bank that is controlled by its contributors. I am happy to co-ordinate this and ask any others interested to contact my office so we can get things going.”

In a letter to customers, MyState head of retail Ana Zardo-Cox said the decision to close the New Norfolk branch had not been made lightly.

“In fact, we deliberately and thoughtfully considered a number of factors such as usage, location, proximity to other services and the needs of the New Norfolk community,” Ms Zardo-Cox said.

“In recent years, we have seen a decline in transactions at the New Norfolk branch.”

Ms Zardo-Cox said customers would be able to bank at any other MyState branch.

She said MyState customers were also able to conduct simple transactions such as deposits and withdrawals at Australia Post outlets using a MyState Visa debit card.