ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
YESTERDAY (Tuesday, April 18) at 1.30 pm, the Moe ANZ branch shut its doors for the last time. Following closures across Morwell over several years and with Moe’s Westpac already closed, the closure of Moe’s ANZ is another major blow to the local community. On March 2, the first hearing of the Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee Inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia was held in Sale. Despite the Senate committee requests, central banks are closing branches and leaving regional customers stranded. Moe’s ANZ branch was reportedly, barely operational. David Barnes, 73, is a retired pensioner who was a customer of the Moe Westpac branch before moving to ANZ after Westpac’s closure. The ANZ branch had been operating at designated reduced hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9.30am to 1.30pm, with reports of unexpected closures even during set opening times. Mr Barnes said banking became “very difficult” as he would get to the Moe branch at its listed opening times only to discover that the lights were out. “Three times I arrived at the bank expecting it to be open its normal hours … three times it was closed unexpectedly,” he said. Mr Barnes said “it’s not fair” to the mainly elderly customers who still use physical banking. “I was trying to accommodate the bank but not having any success. It was frustrating,” he said. Despite a scheduled shutdown, Mr Barnes stated the least the bank could’ve done was stay open for customers to do their last-minute banking until they were forced online or elsewhere. Like everyone else who uses in-person banking, Mr Barnes will have to drive 30 minutes to Warragul or Traralgon to visit the few remaining ANZ branches in the region. Latrobe City Councillor, Sharon Gibson, expressed her concern over the regional bank closures. “I find it really disappointing across the board with banks, it’s good enough for them to have our money but not good enough for the service,” she said. “Morwell has been left out, and now it’s Moe’s turn … how much longer will it be until Traralgon and Warragul go?” ANZ district manager, Minh Vuong, said customers were changing the way they choose to bank, with more than 80 per cent of Moe customers preferring online and mobile banking methods. “Over the past four years, we’ve seen in-branch transactions decrease by more than 50 per cent across ANZ. We have personally written to our Moe customers to help them with alternate banking options and our relationship bankers continue to visit many of our business customers at their locations and are also available on the phone and online,” she said. “Customers can visit our Traralgon branch for their face-to-face banking needs and customers can also use the atmx network at no charge and ATMs operated by the other major banks, fee-free. Customers can also withdraw money using EFTPOS facilities at the Coles, Woolworths and IGA supermarkets in Moe, along with other major supermarkets Australia wide.” National secretary of the Finance Sector Union, Julia Angrisano, expressed her concerns over Moe ANZ’s conduct. “Our members at Moe tell us that the reduced opening hours of the branch and the move to cashless banking has an isolating effect on local customers, particularly the elderly and disabled,” she said. “The FSU is concerned that customers and local businesses cannot access their own funds at a time that suits them. There is an impact on local economic activity.” Ms Angrisano said it was shameful that profits were put before community and the vulnerable in society. “Banks like to boast about what they do in the community via sponsorship but in reality they have little or no social conscience,” she said. “Banks make no allowances to assist customers and that makes them feel like they don’t matter. It’s not an exaggeration to characterise this treatment of elderly customers as a corporate form of ‘elder abuse’. No big four bank is closing branches faster than the ANZ. “ANZ could have saved Moe from closing if it had complied with a recent request from a Senate committee looking into regional banking, for a moratorium on regional bank closures.” In a media release, Latrobe City Council said it would continue to advocate on behalf of the community as regional bank closures continue across the region. Mayor of Latrobe City, Kellie O’Callaghan, noted the importance of sharing the local experience when banks close. “Banking facilities have been available across Latrobe City for our community to access for many years, recent service changes have seen our community impacted,” she said. “Council is ensuring that government are aware of the impact to local businesses and our community if bank closures continue. We look forward to working alongside them and banks to ensure that our communities remain empowered as we navigate this change and look for solutions.” The number of bank branches in Australia has declined by more than 30 per cent over the past five years, with a third of those in regional areas. The Senate committee inquiry will release a report into bank closures in regional Australia on December 1, 2023, with submissions into the inquiry still being accepted until April 28.
