Westpac closes branch in Corio

CORIO residents will have fewer banking options after Westpac announced plans to close its branch in the suburb.

Westpac is expected to close 22 branches nationwide, including eight in Victoria.

A Westpac spokeswoman said the branch closures had been proposed as fewer than 2 per cent of transactions took place over the counter and the bank’s digital customer base had grown to 2.6 million.

“When we do make the difficult decision to close a branch, we take into careful consideration factors such as usage, location, proximity to other services and community needs,” the spokeswoman said.

“We also follow Australian Banking Association protocols, including engagement with our employees and customers.

“In the past 12 months, less than 2 per cent of transactions were through our branch network, as an increasing number of customers enjoy the convenience of our online and mobile banking services.”

But the bank refused to say how many employees would be affected by the proposed closures.

“We’ll be looking to redeploy staff,” the spokeswoman said.

Westpac currently has branches in Market Square, Geelong, Torquay, Waurn Ponds, Newcomb, Belmont, Ocean Grove and Geelong West.

It is also expected to close nine branches in New South Wales, three in Queensland and one each in Western Australia and South Australia.

The spokeswoman said the bank would invest more than $120 million into its branch and ATM network this year to make banking simpler and faster.