One of Australia’s biggest banks will close five more branches in two major cities as in-person banking services continue to fall off across the country.
Westpac, the ASX-listed $93bn behemoth, has confirmed it will close four subsidiary Bank of Melbourne branches in Broadmeadows, Airport West, Werribee Plaza and South Morang in Victoria and will “co-locate” banking services in Newcastle at its newly renovated Beaumont Street branch in Hamilton.
The closures follow Westpac’s mid-February announcement it would shut down about 20 branches across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
Westpac chief customer engagement officer Ross Miller said despite the closures, the bank had expanded access to cash transactions for its customers.
“We’ve digitally connected our brands and branches meaning Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA customers can now use any of our more than 500 branches for cash and cheque deposits and cash withdrawals,” he said on Tuesday.
“We’ve also expanded access to fee-free cash via our ATM network.
“Personal and business transaction account customers can perform fee-free ATM withdrawals at almost 7000 ATMs.”
Bank of Melbourne customers will retain access to 116 branches in Victoria and more than 500 Westpac branches nationally.
The Hamilton branch will house Westpac and St George services under one roof and follows the expiry of the bank’s existing lease at the Westpac Newcastle site.
The Financial Services Union says the closures will “dump” 30 Westpac staff members into unemployment but NCA NewsWire understands a majority of affected employees will be redeployed within the bank.
Mr Miller said Westpac had “robust” processes in place to help workers find new opportunities with the financial services giant as it expanded its phone, digital and virtual offerings.
“In most cases, employees impacted will continue to work with Westpac,” he said.
FSU national president Wendy Streets said Westpac was degrading its “infrastructure and people”.
“This is not about customers preferring digital banking as Westpac claims,” she said this week.
“This is about nothing more than a bank that loves profits and cares little about people, including its customers and staff.
“Having booked a $1.5bn first quarter profit last month, you would think Westpac could continue to offer banking services to customers within its existing branch network.
“Instead Westpac continues to slash at its infrastructure and people.
“The FSU believes banks are an essential service and that all Australians should have the right to do their banking in the manner they choose instead of being driven into digital banking.”
The closures follow a round of lay-offs from January and late February, in which the bank shed 132 jobs from its risk-management, operations and sales divisions, offshoring some of the roles to India and the Philippines.
The cuts are small matched to the overall size of the company, which boasts more than 30,000 employees across Australia.
But they come after sharp cuts in 2023 with the financial services firm slashing hundreds of jobs.
A wave of redundancies have hit the financial services sector in recent months as banks move to control costs and protect margins.
Westpac, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ all announced substantial cuts last year with the total number of job losses from the “big four” hitting more than 2000.
Westpac reported a $1.5bn net profit for the three months up to December 31, 2023, which CEO Peter King called a “solid quarter”.
“We’ve grown the franchise and maintained a strong financial position,” he said in the company’s earnings release.
Year-to-date, Westpac’s stock price is up 16.2 per cent.