Elderly left stranded as banks gravitate to cities

Concerns are growing that elderly people may be left without access to a bank as branches are shuttered around the country.

It was confirmed this week that Westpac is to close 19 of its branches. One of those, in Fairlie, is the only branch in the town.

Instead of branches, Westpac will leave services such as smart ATMs, deposit units and iPads for community use. In some cases, it is offering training on digital technology.

Kamo, near Whangarei, is losing both ASB and Westpac branches.

That will leave Kiwibank as the only bank in the town.

Kiwibank said it had outlets in 85 small towns, and was the only bank in 15 of them. It has 104 branches in metropolitan centres and 66 in main provincial centres.

An analysis of other bank locations shows they are heavily weighted towards the bigger centres.

BNZ has just under 50 branches in Auckland, 19 in Wellington, 19 in Waikato, 27 in Canterbury and about 55 through provincial New Zealand.

Westpac has about 200 branches throughout the country, and about half are in Auckland and Wellington.

ASB has 130 branches nationwide, including 78 in Auckland. ANZ has about 65 of its roughly 200 branches in Auckland.

Rural Women New Zealand’s national president Wendy McGowan said it was harder for older people to travel to other centres for banking.

‘‘When it comes to paying your accounts, if you haven’t got good connectivity, you’re in trouble.’’

McGowan said the offer of an iPad at a centre such as a library was a good idea in theory, but in some centres the libraries had closed, too.

She knew of one where the only library was at the local school, and accessible only in school hours.

She said banks often had an important social role in smaller centres.

‘‘In some places they can be the social hub, it’s where a lot of people go,’’ McGowan said.

‘‘For older people in particular, banks can be the focal point of the community.’’

But banking expert Claire Matthews questioned whether it was the role of banks to provide a social service.

‘‘I agree banks do have a social responsibility to ensure people can access bank services, but I don’t think that extends to being a social focal point. If a community needs a social foal point that should be provided by local, or possibly central, government.’’