When the last bank leaves town

The “new normal” of fewer branches inevitably brings added cost and inconvenience for the customer. This was certainly the case for Sharon Bain, when she opened a bank account for her 14-year-old son, Jayden*.

Opening a first account is a rite of passage, and after lengthy research Sharon and Jayden opted for a St.George Youth Saver, one of the few accounts with debit card access for under-16s.

Sharon provided details of Jayden’s birth certificate and passport to open the account online, and an email confirmed the account was up and running and a debit card would arrive shortly.

When the card still hadn’t turned up three weeks later, Sharon contacted the bank, and was told Jayden needed to visit a branch in person to complete the account opening. At that point, the extent of branch closures became clear.

The Bains live in the NSW Hunter Valley, a threehour drive from Sydney. It turns out the Bains’ “nearest” St.George branch is now 125 km from their home. “I had to pull Jayden out of school for the day and take a day off work myself to make the 250-km round-trip just to open a youth account. Closing branches may have saved the bank money, but it cost me plenty,” says Sharon.