The mayor of a small rural town has blasted a major bank’s decision to close the only branch for 150km, saying his community have been abandoned.
Bendigo Bank has announced it will close four branches across Australia on Friday, including the only one in Queenstown, on Tasmania’s west coast.
Much of the town’s population, particularly the elderly, now face a four-hour round trip to the closest branch in Burnie, a town over 150km away.
West Coast Council mayor Shane Pitt told Daily Mail that residents were bitterly disappointed by Bendigo’s decision to close the branch.
‘It’s the final bank on the West Coast, and the nearest face-to-face banking option requires a two-hour drive to Burnie and another two hours back,’ Mr. Pitt explained.
‘Many of our elderly population cannot drive, and retirees would need an entire day to take the bus to Burnie just for banking purposes.
‘A lot of retirees don’t even have credit cards and now they’ll have to get them to do banking at the post office.
‘They certainly feel abandoned by the Bendigo Bank.’
The Queenstown Bendigo Bank (pictured) will shut its doors on Friday, compelling residents to endure a four-hour journey to the nearest branch for in-person banking transactions.
West Coast mayor Shane Pitt (pictured) says Bendigo Bank doesn’t care about his residents
Mr Pitt and thousands of Queenstown locals have signed a petition protesting the branch’s closure, which has over 3,000 signatures.
Given there’s only about 4,000 people in the West Coast Council region, Mr Pitt said the petition showed how strongly locals felt about the branch.
‘They’re certainly not struggling,’ he said.
‘We’ve looked into the Bendigo Bank and while the bank at Queenstown wasn’t making big profits, it wasn’t in the red either.
‘To close a bank that was not going badly, is another kick in the guts for us, but they don’t care.’
Bendigo Bank is the last bank to have a branch in Queenstown, which has a population of 1,808.
There is only one non-bank-owned ATM that carries fees for cash withdrawals.
Two branches in Queensland and one in Victoria will also close on Friday, while another six have or will close between August and the end of October.
The majority of the Queenstown community has signed a petition in protest against the Bendigo Bank’s decision to close its local branch
A spokesperson from Bendigo Bank mentioned that customers will be able to conduct transactions at the Bank@Post facility next to the branch without any fees for at least the next year.
‘After evaluating changing customer habits, a drop in business activities, and rising costs, the bank reluctantly decided to close the Queenstown branch,’ the spokesperson informed the Daily Mail.
‘The bank apologises for any inconvenience.
‘Bendigo Bank is proud of its regional heritage and operates Australia’s second largest regional branch network.
‘To maintain our support and services for customers and communities, we need to ensure our branches have adequate resources and support.’
On July 1, operating hours at the Queenstown branch were reduced to 10am to 1pm and 1.30pm to 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Bendigo Bank, which has 2.7million customers isn’t the only bank closing branches.
Up to 230 bank branches were closed over the 2023-24 financial year, while more than 6,000 ATMs were removed during the past five years, according to Canstar.
Of the 230 closures, 52 were in regional areas. Up to 1,615 branches of various banks have shut their doors over a five-year period.
The Big Four banks have signed a moratorium to not close any more regional branches until 2027.
A federal government inquiry into bank closures laid out eight recommendations last year, with one to set up a regional community banking branch program to help underwrite the establishment of community bank branches.
