Suncorp shuts shop

Bank blames virus for move to close 20 branches nationwide

BANKING giant Suncorp is closing 20 branches around Australia amid a major revamp of over-the-counter services it says was sparked by falling customer traffic during COVID-19.

The closures include nine branches in both Queensland and NSW and come amid increasing migration of banking services online, a trend that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 shutdown.

Suncorp said the number of job losses had yet to be determined but suitable staff would be offered positions in nearby branches that remained open or in the call centres.

The financial sector union says Suncorp is using COVID as an excuse to continue its aggressive policy of closures.

Making the announcement on Wednesday, Suncorp said over-the-counter transactions had declined by almost onequarter between June 2019 and June 2020. Two-thirds of deposit accounts are now opened online.

The closures, which represent about 16 per cent of its network, will leave the bank with 93 stores nationwide.

Suncorp said most of the stores had been closed since April, when COVID-19 restrictions were put into place. It said customers had moved online and to contact centres, making it unviable to reopen.

It said in most cases, the nearest in-person option, an alternative store or Australia Post outlet, was within 500m, or no further than several kilometres.

Suncorp executive general manager of consumer distribution Chris Fleming said that customer behaviour had been evolving for some years but the appetite for digital banking had accelerated sharply through COVID -19.

The closures come on the eve of Suncorp’s announcement of a restructuring of other parts of its business that is expected to result in more job losses.

Suncorp chief executive is Steve Johnston said the company would continue to adapt its business model to a post-COVID environment.