‘Like family’: regions get promise on bank branches

AUSTRALIA’S biggest bank has recommitted to retaining hundreds of brick-and-mortar branches in the regions for at least the next four years.

The news gives certainty to the 3000 Commonwealth Bank of Australia workers and tens of thousands of customers linked to the 281 offices in rural areas.

“Regional communities are central to the Australian economy and our way of life,” chief executive Matt Comyn said on Thursday.

“We have been part of these communities for generations, and today we are providing certainty that every one of our regional branches will remain open into the next decade.”

The bank was one of the first major institutions to make a commitment to regional branch services in February 2023, just as a Senate inquiry into closures and services got under way.

That promise has become a commitment that extends until at least December 2030.

The 281 branches will continue to accept cash deposits and withdrawals and support everyday banking and business banking.

Gunnedah local Richard Gallen’s family has been a customer of CBA’s town branch for more than 80 years.

“It’s weird,” the principal of LJ Hooker told Australian Associated Press.

“They become very loyal, you know, country people.

“It’s very rare that you go and change, if they’re doing the right job.”

The bank’s Gunnedah branch, in central NSW, has been open since 1931, and has built family-like relationships with its customers that still exist.

Branch manager Jason Woolley said it recently completed one of its biggest loans – $1.7 million for a house.

Commonwealth Bank has the largest network, with more than 600 branches in cities and regions.

It also has more than 1700 ATMs, which it says is more than twice the number of its nearest competitor.

The bank is spending $140 million to upgrade all its branches and refresh layouts and technology, with the goal of cutting waiting times.

* AAP travelled to Gunnedah with the support of Commonwealth Bank.