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Banks told to lift game on bush closures
16 Jan 2004
Australia's banks have been warned on branch closures in rural and regional areas by a federal parliamentary committee looking into banking in the bush. Such closures frequently lead to "gaping holes" in these communities which bring about their slow death, the committee stated. Branches are generally closed on financial grounds, the committee said, usually without any consultation with the communities concerned. Two thousand branches have been closed nationally over the past 10 years.
The committee put forward recommendations which include giving rural communities a minimum of six months' notice before closing a branch; preparing an explanatory document for customers to explain the reasons for closure; arranging free transfers of accounts to banks of the customers' choice; better training programs in the use of telephone and online banking, especially for older and indigenous Australians.
The West Australian, 16/1/04.
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