Waikanae Westpac to close
Waikanae’s Westpac branch will be closed.
Westpac announced on Wednesday that it would be closing 19 branches nationwide resulting in the loss of 70 jobs.
A spokeswoman said customers were rapidly changing the way they bank and expected 24/7 access to their banking - currently more than 85 per cent of service transactions take place outside of a branch.
It is anticipated the branches impacted, including the one in Waikanae, will close in early November.
First Union spokeswoman Tali Williams said that staff were ‘‘devastated’’.
‘‘The focus now is towards making sure there are ample redeployment opportunities for people
‘‘It’s always sad when we lose a local business.’’
to go to work in other Westpac branches.
‘‘Where that is not possible we’ll want to see that they get their redundancy entitlements and can move on with the rest of their lives.’’
When Westpac announced its proposal to close the branches in August, the news drew protests in Waikanae which has a median age of 62.
It will now lose one of its few remaining bank branches.
Kapiti mayor Ross Church said it was sad for staff and customers, and he hoped that Westpac would do all they could to relocate staff and look after customers. ‘‘It’s always sad when we lose a local business.’’ Kapiti Coast District councillor and protest organiser K Gurunathan said the closure was part of wider moves by businesses and the government to take services online.
The changes were slowly strangling small towns, he said, and older people needed an ‘‘interface’’ with real people.
‘‘It looks like a transition situation, where everything is moving online. But then what are the social consequences?
‘‘The more they take these services away, the more isolated and insecure people will feel. I’m talking mostly about the elderly.’’
Waikanae’s community police base, a few stores down from the bank, was permanently closed last week.
The branches that will close are in Kamo, Cherrywood in Tauranga, Broadway Avenue in Palmerston North, Bishopdale in Christchurch, Gardens in Dunedin, Waikanae, Carterton, Raglan, Ranfurly, Te Aroha, Fendalton Mall in Christchurch, Putaruru, Whangamata, Takaka, Stoke, Wainuiomata in Lower Hutt, Te Anau, Fairlie and Otorohanga.