DEAR News Of The Area,

THE Commonwealth Bank may have promised it won’t close any regional branches before July 2027.

This followed Treasurer Jim Chalmers making a pre-election promise with Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh, who like him was a Labor Party politician from Queensland.

But how much confidence can we have that Laurieton will still have a local bank branch in three years’ time given Westpac shut in 2017, ANZ closed in 2018 and NAB left in 2022?

The Reserve Bank of Australia says cash now only makes up just 13 percent of in-person transactions.

That, however, means little in a place like Laurieton which has a median age of 67, making it one of Australia’s oldest communities.

Older customers are more likely to prefer banknotes for their everyday transactions and they need a branch to be able to make large withdrawals.

The elderly would rather have a friendly teller instead of fearing being mugged at an ATM or having anxiety at the supermarket checkout as they forget their PIN, with a queue behind them.

Not to mention help in person if they are scammed or accidentally click on a dubious SMS that compromises their online banking security.

During the past seven years, more than a third of regional bank branches have closed.

Should the Commonwealth Bank close its Laurieton branch, customers will have to drive more than 30km to Port Macquarie to do their banking.

The Commonwealth Bank’s chief executive Matt Comyn in 2023 told a Senate inquiry on regional bank closures that those who don’t use cash were subsidising those who do.

‘Transporting and making cash available around our vast country involves considerable expense of logistics and security,’ he said.

The CEO with the $10million remuneration package wants to cut costs to benefit shareholders and until the Commonwealth Bank gives a solid undertaking about the Laurieton branch, the days of local bank branches in the Camden Haven may be numbered.

Kind regards,
Andrew JOHNSON,
Dunbogan.