National Bank branches to close in Oberon and Lithgow

February 1, 2024

If you had received an after tax income of seventeen billion dollars over the last six months would you think that you needed to reel in the household budget to save money? Maybe it wasn't just you, and there were four families in your street getting $3.8 billion, $5.2 billion and two getting $4 billion?

Say goodbye on April 23, 2024.

Those are the respective reported after tax cash profits of the ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac banks for a recent six month company reporting period.

From these figures it must be obvious that all four major banks are in severe financial difficulty and desperately need to cut costs. I can turn off the sarcasm now.

One of the ways the banks are cutting costs is to close branches in regional areas. NAB have announced that the branches in Lithgow and Oberon will be closing in April. The announcement about Oberon was made in a telephone call to Mayor Mark Kellam at nine o'clock one morning, and it can be assumed that Lithgow Mayor Maree Statham got the news in the same way. There doesn't appear to have been an announcement to the media about either closure.

CBA might have appointed a new manager to the Oberon branch a few months ago but their plan for the future of regional branches is also unclear.

See also - Media release from Andrew Gee MP

Yes, we have a Reliance branch here and the bank has a commitment to regional banking, but the smaller banks that grew out of credit unions don't have the financial clout or the range of services of the majors.

If you think that Oberon is big enough to survive a purge of banks, note that Cabonne Shire is not that far away and now has no bank branches at all. Weddin Shire based around Grenfell has almost the same population in town and LGA as Oberon and has a single bank agency in a real estate office and a small credit union. It can happen here too.

The strategy used by the banks has been to reduce opening hours and services and then say that customers aren't using the branches. Sound familiar? It's obvious that nobody can use a bank branch if the doors are closed.

When the last bank leaves a town, anyone with a business that receives cash has two options - stop taking cash and move completely to accepting cards or drive to somewhere else to deposit the day's takings.

Closing branches also means that the ATMs go as well. In 2016 there were 35,000 ATM machines in Australia, but by 2021 that number had reduced to 26,000 and the trend continues. In those same five years, 30 per cent of regional bank branches closed. The banks have been selling off their ATM networks to private operators but there's no guarantee that those machines will remain after the bank behind the wall disappears.

Also, if ATMs become the only source of cash withdrawals there might still be problems. ATMs in clubs or pubs that are near poker machines can't be accessed by credit cards, and if they are the only ATMs in town it's bad luck for anyone who wants a few dollars to spend at the markets. Private ATMs have additional charges, so getting cash costs money.

The banks will point to the reduction in cash transactions that has been happening over the last few years and how good their online services are, but a computer in Melbourne or Sydney doesn't know enough about your town to properly evaluate a home loan application. And have you ever tried to ring a bank to discuss your financial needs and situation? Or access online banking when the mobile network is having problems or you are somewhere with no coverage?

But what can we mere mortals do about this. First thing is to use the bank branches in town. Keep them busy. Write to your local members of parliament asking them to take action. Write to the banks themselves. Complain loudly on their social media pages.

When the last bank closes in a town it's like filling all the shop windows with "To Let" signs. It's a sign of decay, and it hurts.

Remember that seventeen billion dollar pile of profits. After tax and expenses. Cash profits. The major banks might pretend they are doing it tough but the numbers speak very loudly.

---