Bank Branch Closure
Posted by: margaretjulia
17th Aug 2022 05:13pm
I live in Adelaide suburban area and over the last few years the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, National Bank have all closed their branches. I now need to travel over 10 Kms to access a branch. Trying to ring a customer service number means waiting online for a long time and sometimes being told that the service not operating. I do not use apps but can bank online for bills etc but sometimes need to visit a branch. I am finding technology changing quickly and am having trouble keeping up with it. Last night I needed something verified by SMS and found it could only be verfied by using an app on a smartphone. I do not have a smart phone. Do other people find changing technology challenging?
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Comments 3
Bigbear
These rural bank closures are a hot topic nowadays and I know quite a large number of bank branches have closed in rural and regional Australia since the mid 2000s. I did read somewhere that CBA bank has agreed to pause the closure of all regional branches until the end of 2026 but there has been some reneging of this.
I think it's high time there's an Senate inquiry into the impact the shutting down these financial institutions is having on regional communities.
The major banks should be considered trustworthy and reliable and they were always there for you in person in your local suburb or country town.
But that sense of reliabilty has dwindled with all the bank branch closures continuing and all.
For most regional customers who have lost their branch it is an inconvenience, now the banks say that this can be overcome easily by going down the online options road . . but not everyone uses or wants to use mobile phones with internet access.
Sadly for many regional customers when the last bank in town closes, a visit to their local branch suddenly entails a long road trip.
I think banks are just ignoring society's needs because they no longer need to pander to anything other than their own desires and reckon they are no longer becoming a public service industry . . just a self serving industry.
I do believe the banks have had a tech implement strategy for all to become a cashless society from early on, first came the drive to get customers to use tech with ATMs in early 80s. Then the introduction of fees for branch services versus using tech for free, then continued on from ATMs through to telephone banking and then online as the internet rolled out.
Banks have cleverly collected stats that show how customers are deserting branches and are using those figures to justify the Banks closing branches. Banks pushed people away, after four decades of redirecting them, the people have become accustomed to using tech so all in all it's been an exercise of re-training if you will and the Banks' mission has been a success.
kidwithsmurf
Bank closures are terrible, I feel they are just closed to increase profits for the big bank bosses. This is because it costs to hire someone to work in a bank branch and only having to pay one or two people to run the physical branch to tell you to call a number and wait forever or to go online to sort your problem is a lot cheaper.
It's just a cost cutting method, so the big bosses can earn millions. I've had branches close where I live and I've gone in to request something as simple as a bank statement and been told they can't print (I guess paper costs money)? It then took them over a week to email the statement to me (What if I required it then and there?). Furthermore, with people in your case and elderly that have always walked into a branch and only know how to use a branch... it is terrible. They do not have smartphones, computers, email and if they do... they don't know how to use them.
So yes, banks are cost cutting, but they're destroying lives in doing so. This said, once you force someone who has always used a branch and doesn't understand technology to use online banking... This is when cyber crime happens and people lose their life savings. Also, you can't do everything you want online and sometimes need to talk to someone. Waiting on hold on the phone, talking to an overseas person who can't see what your issue is or understand your problem like they can in person is not ideal.
So yes, Bank Branch Closure is the worst. There needs to be someone or a group of people qualified enough in branch to be able to help people who don't know how to use online, can't do what they want online and or don't even have the technology to do it online.
Overall, changing technology... people just have to adapt. But that said, you then have people who can't adapt because they are beyond understanding, don't want to understand, can't afford to own or run a smart phone/computer (My grandparents never had internet)... Thus, things need to stay open such a bank branches for those that need them.
PGS
Bank closures (apart from increasing profits) are because we apparently only want to do net banking.
Then there is the management level bonuses based on profit which is increased by shutting doors & putting off staff.