CBA's major move for Aussie bank branches: 'Great win'

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has committed to keeping all of its regional bank branches open for at least another three and a half years.

The nation’s biggest bank decided to pause regional bank closures earlier this year while the senate inquiry into regional bank closures was underway.

The major bank, along with Westpac and ANZ, initially committed to keeping branches open until the end of 2023. CBA has now extended this commitment until at least the end of 2026.

• Also read: CBA joins Westpac in major move for homeowners: ‘Costly catch’

• Also read: ANZ, NAB, CBA close more branches: ‘They don’t care’

• Also read: CBA closing last branch in small town but residents are fighting back

CBA retail banking services group executive Angus Sullivan said the way people were banking was changing, with more customers adopting digital and phone-based services.

“Through this time of change, we want to support customers in regional areas who prefer banking in branch. So, we will maintain our existing face-to-face services in these communities,” Sullivan said.

According to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, more than 470 regional and rural banks closed between mid-2017 and mid-January, 2022.

‘Doing the right thing’

Rhiannon Druce, who is the general manager of the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory, has been fighting to keep her local CBA branch open.

The branch was earmarked for closure in March this year and is the last bank branch in the regional NSW town.

“[The] announcement from the CBA is a great win for regional areas, which I hope other banks follow to keep regional branches open,” Druce said.

“Even though more people are using remote banking methods it is still important for communities in regional areas to have easy access to bank branches when seeking mortgage approvals or depositing large sums of cash, which many businesses still do.

“The population in many regional towns is growing so it makes sense to keep banks open there.”

The Finance Sector Union also welcomed the news and said the major bank was “doing the right thing by regional communities”.

“We hope they consider extending this commitment to banking services to all branches, and we call on other big banks to make a similar commitment,” the union said.

Aussies still want physical bank branches

Almost three quarters of Aussies (73 per cent) still want a physical bank branch that they can walk into if they have an issue, according to a recent survey of 1,110 people by Finder.

Nearly half (43 per cent) of Aussies like being able to talk to someone face to face, while 30 per cent said they felt better having an in-person option.

“From scams to financial hardship, there are still many money matters that Aussies would rather address face to face,” Finder money expert Alison Banney said.

“Most banking is done digitally these days – yet there are still many instances where customers would rather do so in person.”

Access to a bank branch was the most important for older Aussies, with 82 per cent of Baby Boomers preferring to go into a branch if they had an issue, compared to 69 per cent of Gen Y.

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