Big four banks cull 160 branches

THE big four banks have shut almost 160 branches and dumped 600 ATMS across the country over the past year in a bid to cut costs.

Despite making billiondollar profits, the nation’s largest lenders are continuing to ditch branches and ATMS across metropolitan and regional areas.

New figures obtained exclusively by News Corp found that Westpac Group, which includes St George, Bank of Melbourne and Banksa, has been the worst offender.

In the year to the end of September it disposed of 57 branches and ripped out 349 ATMS nationally, followed by ANZ which removed 52 branches and 58 ATMS.

The nation’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth Bank, removed 39 branches and 208 ATMS in the year to June 30.

The National Australia Bank removed nine branches over the past year but bucked the trend and increased its ATM numbers by 22.

The closures come after a similar round of closures last year. In the year to September 2018 the big four banks closed almost 200 bank branches and ripped out 700 ATMS.

Some branches had their doors shut after more than 100 years in operation.

Finance Sector Union of Australia national secretary Julia Angrisano said Australians were “seeing branch closures at a rapid and alarming rate”.

Ms Angrisano said that while banks often claimed more people were doing their banking digitally, “what they are not telling people is frontline workers have had targets imposed on their work about reducing over-the-counter transactions”.

“These workers have participated in the destruction of their own jobs in effect,” she said.

“They do it knowing the more they transfer people to a digital-only platform the more

WE TAKE A NUMBER OF FACTORS INTO CONSIDERATION, INCLUDING USAGE, LOCATION AND FEEFREE ATMS

likely their branch is going to close, but it’s actually a requirement of their jobs.”

She said some staff had been told they have targets to “reduce over-the-counter transactions by 20 per cent”.

Westpac chief operating officer Les Vance said closing branches was not a decision the bank took lightly.

“We take a number of factors into consideration, including usage, location, proximity to other services and fee-free ATMS, as well as community needs,” Mr Vance said.

Australian Banking Association chief executive officer, Anna Bligh said the closures were the result of more people banking digitally.