Westpac is extending a moratorium, first put in place in February last year, on regional branch closures until at least 2027 while it “upgrades” regional services.
The upgrade includes a 10-year A$200 million investment in Australia Post’s Bank@Post. The bank said in a statement that the partnership with Australia Post is “critical” part of its service network, with 96 per cent of Westpac customers living within 20 kilometres of a Bank@Post.
Overall, Westpac’s Australian branch numbers were cut 12 per cent to 644 over the year to September 2023.
The impact of these closures has been mitigated by co-location of branches and a technology upgrade that was completed last year, which has connected the Westpac, St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne branch networks.
The technology upgrade means that customers can use any branch to make transactions, regardless of which group brand they bank with.
Transactions that can be performed at any group branch include deposits, withdrawals, funds exchanges, bank cheque services, passbook issuing and service, personal internet banking, estate management and personal customer ID and profile maintenance.
The bank has opened 100 co-located branches since the program began in 2021, including 39 in regional areas. It plans to have a total of 140 co-located branches by 2027. The biggest beneficiaries of co-location are customers of the smaller brands.