There are concerns for residents in regional areas as Australia Post have given notice of terminating their banking services with ANZ.
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Temora and Junee are among 1550 communities across Australia which have a post office but no bank branch.
These communities rely on Australia Post to provide access to banking services, such as withdrawals, deposits, balance inquiries via Bank@Post.
Since the closure of the Temora ANZ branch in May, deputy mayor of the Temora Shire Council Graham Sinclair said this is a “backwards step” for regional Australia.
“This is not good because we’re trying to get more people to come into rural areas from the cities,” Cr Sinclair said.
“Banks pulling out is just another hurdle they’re throwing at us.”
This ANZ move means people in regional areas without banks will no longer have a way of banking in person.
Temora customers will now have to travel at least 55 kilometres to the nearest ANZ branch in Cootamundra and Cr Sinclair said he expects most people will make alternative arrangements.
“I guess in these sorts of cases customers just need to change to a bank that does have a presence in town, because you can’t expect people, whether they’re senior or not, to travel far for a bank,” Cr Sinclair said.
While ANZ’s future with Australia Post is under a cloud, Westpac and NAB have signed agreements that will help communities across Australia access banking services via the post office.
Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate said in a statement that she was disappointed that ANZ has chosen not to commit to community post offices.
"We will offer ANZ a new contract to ensure their customers are still able to access the benefit of our services and they are not disadvantaged whilst ANZ continues to develop its own strategic options,” Ms Holgate said.
Former senator and Junee farmer Bill Heffernan also raised concerns for the viability of regional Australia if ANZ were not able to come to an agreement with Australia Post.
“I am hopeful and I expect that these negotiations between ANZ and Australia Post will be conducted in a sensible way that will come to an agreement,” he said.
“I feel this is a social obligation because in Junee where ANZ has closed, they promised that customers could still bank at the post office.
“If rural Australia is to maintain its viability, this issue needs to be resolved and not discarded.”
A spokesperson from ANZ said Australia Post issued a notice to terminate an agreement that has allowed ANZ customers to conduct basic banking transactions in post offices since 2015.
Under the existing contract, ANZ customers will still have access to Bank@Post for the next three months.
“While we are disappointed by Australia Post’s decision, there is currently no change for our customers using Australia Post to conduct basic banking transactions,” said ANZ general manager Paul Presland.
“We have been committed to fair and proportionate compensation for the service and will continue discussions with the hope of resolving the matter quickly.
“At this stage we have unfortunately been unable to come to a new agreement that is reasonable for both organisations.
“We will also assess options to look after our relatively small number of customers who frequently use the service where ANZ does not have a branch nearby,” Mr Presland said.