Commonwealth Bank has hit back at union claims that it is set to sack more than 20 staff employed in branches earmarked for closure in coming months.
The Finance Sector Union yesterday revealed that the bank is set to close a string of metropolitan branches, including a high-profile outlet in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall.
CBA is also set to be shutter branches at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and Coogee in Sydney’s heavily populated eastern suburbs.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said the decision to close the branches was a “kick in the guts” for staff and the communities they currently serve.
“There are 800,000 people passing through Rundle Mall every week and many will be CBA customers however the bank has decided to shut the branch with the loss of 13 jobs,” she said.
“This is the busiest shopping precinct in Adelaide but CBA customers and businesses are being told to find a branch elsewhere in the city if they need to visit a bank branch.
“These closures should not be happening and it only demonstrates CBA’s continual desertion of its ‘bricks and mortar’ branch network.”
Angrisano said the branch closures would result in the loss of 22 jobs.
CBA confirmed the branch closures but said that 21 of the 22 affected branch staff have been redeployed to other parts of the bank.
“We regularly review our services across Australia to help inform decisions on where to open, renovate or upgrade branches, or in some instances where to close branches,” a CBA spokesperson said.
“After a recent review, we made the difficult decision to permanently close our Rundle Mall Adelaide, Coolangatta and Coogee branches.”
“We are working closely with our staff and have redeployed 21 of the 22 branch employees to appropriate comparable roles suitable to their needs. We are also supporting the remaining staff member to find potential opportunities.”
Internal CBA data obtained by Banking Day indicates that transaction activity at the Rundle Mall branch has declined by 47 per cent since 2019, while Coogee branch has suffered a 52 per cent fall in transactions.
However, the decline in transaction activity at the Coolangatta branch was comparatively modest at 29 per cent in the same period.
The stoush between the bank and the union over branch closures has intensified this week after CBA flagged that it would also be closing another six branches before the end of March across its Bankwest network in Western Australia.
Since 2017 Bankwest has reduced its branch network from 88 to 60 outlets.