A South Australian mining town is about to lose its last bank branch, requiring inhabitants to trek hundreds of kilometers away.
On February 17, Coober Pedy will no longer have a Westpac branch, and its residents will only have access to limited banking services at the post office.
If they require more services, the nearest bank is 550 kilometers away in Port Augusta.
The Australia Post Office has a daily withdrawal restriction of $7,000, which, according to the town’s chief executive officer, Tim Jackson, will hurt local businesses.
It is the most recent city to lose its physical bank branches as banks increasingly promote online banking.
Mr. Jackson fears the pattern will negatively impact the town’s elderly, Native American, and other internet-challenged residents.
Tim Jackson, CEO of the Coober Pedy Council, told news.com.au that people used to be able to walk into a bank and access their accounts, conduct transactions, and make withdrawals because they were known to bank workers.
‘I spoke with an opal miner who advised me that when purchasers arrive in town, they must have access to between $100,000 and $200,000 in cash, as most transactions in the opal industry are conducted in cash,’ he stated.
Therefore, they will have to withdraw cash at Port Augusta and then drive 550 kilometers on the highway with that amount of cash in their vehicle, which poses a number of danger issues and necessitates that businesses have personal safes. It will undoubtedly be hard.
Berrigan, a town near the border of New South Wales and Victoria, lost its final bank in October 2022.
CEO of Berrigan Shire Council, Karina Ewer, disclosed that elderly town residents are increasingly relying on library employees and others to handle their online banking concerns, putting them at risk.
“People like our library staff are frequently contacted by senior citizens who can’t do online banking to manage their accounts, so they are given passwords and identifying information to assist our residents, which makes them extremely uncomfortable but they have no one else to trust,” she added.
“In my opinion, this only makes vulnerable people more vulnerable, as they are unable to manage their own banking because they are required to do so online.
If they don’t come to us and instead go to their relatives, we all know that not all family members are trustworthy, thus it really concerns me that people are coerced into positions.
Mr. Jackson stated that Coober Pedy had “run out of options” despite urgent efforts to prevent the closure of banks.
He met with the state manager of Westpac in Adelaide, wrote to Westpac’s CEO, and contacted senators in Southern Australia.
However, he only received responses from two legislators and Westpac did not provide a thorough response.
Four years ago, Westpac announced the liquidation of its bank, before protests prevented the plan.
Mr Jackson doesn’t anticipate a change of heart will take place this time.
Since fiscal year 2020, the number of persons using Westpac’s branch in the city each month has decreased by 28%, according to Westpac.
A representative for Westpac stated, “Declining customer use of branches means that in some cases we may have to make the difficult decision to close a branch location.”
“In Coober Pedy, our team is assisting customers with the transition, including coordinating with the Australia Post staff to familiarize them with Bank@Post services.
Customers will have access to many of the same cash services, including withdrawing cash, depositing cash and checks, and checking account balances, at the Coober Pedy Post Office, which is approximately 50 meters from our existing office.
Coober Pedy is the most recent Australian community to lose a physical bank.
Junee, a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales will lose its last bank on March 3.
James Davis, the general manager of Junee Shire Council, stated that vulnerable or elderly residents will be negatively affected.
He claimed that residents will be need to travel with “large amounts of cash in the car” to the nearest town of Wagga Wagga, a half-hour drive away.
According to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, 575 rural banks closed between the middle of 2017 and the middle of 2021.
And the Finance Sector Union said bank branch closures are reaching ‘crisis point’ with the big four eliminating more than 550 bank offices across Australia since January 2020.
In the previous six years, more than 1,600 bank branches have shuttered across the nation.
»Australian city is the most recent to lose its banks«
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