Bankwest closing nearly 10 per cent of branches by mid-April amid transition to ‘digital’ bank

Bankwest is shutting nearly 10 per cent of its WA branches by mid-April and warns of more closures as parent Commonwealth Bank pursues a plan to reshape it into “almost solely” an online bank. With its Armadale branch shuttered on January 18, Bankwest confirmed on Tuesday that its Mt Lawley, Wembley and Success branches will close in March. That’s on top of earlier confirmation Maddington and Kununurra are also closing their doors, on February 29 and April 18 respectively. That means that at least six branches will have closed in 2024 before mid-April, reducing Bankwest’s WA branch numbers to 56. On the Financial Sector Union’s numbers, 15 have closed or been marked for closure over the past year. Bankwest said affected staff would be redeployed elsewhere in the bank, adding that customers and local authorities in the branch areas had been notified. However, media are only told of the closures when enquiring, prompting accusations by the FSU that Bankwest is conducting a campaign of cutbacks by stealth in order to try and avoid negative publicity. It compares to private health insurer HBF’s alternative and transparent approach last week when it publicly announced the closure of five of its 14 branches, again citing the customer take-up of digital transactions. Bankwest said less than 2 per cent of its customers now visited a branch regularly, with the Perth network averaging just 30 over-the-counter transactions a day. It is half of that in the regions. “That decline is expected to accelerate over the next 12 months,” Bankwest’s head of personal banking, Scott Spittles, said in a statement. “Bankwest intends to retain impacted colleagues and, over time, has the ambition to grow as a WA-based, world-class digital bank for homeowners, with the expectation to operate fewer branches in the future, but cannot speculate on a timeframe for that transition.” Apart from Maddington and Kununurra, Mt Lawley is slated for closure on March 7, Wembley March 14 and Success March 21. The FSU and Bankwest staff have been under no illusions about Commonwealth’s plans for the WA bank since CBA chief executive Matt Comyn fronted a Senate inquiry into regional branch closures in September. “Strategically, Bankwest is moving to predominantly and probably over time almost solely digital only,” Mr Comyn told the inquiry. He added that “face-to-face services and in-branch services” would be “scarcer” for customers “over time”. The FSU, which represents Bankwest staff, is worried that the branch closures are accelerating and argues that those customers still pursuing face-to-face interactions are being pushed into taking up digital banking when they visit the branches. It is urging customers and communities to push back against the closures. “They’re losing their bank,” FSU national assistant secretary Jason Hall told thewest.com.au. “We know how much West Australians love the Bankwest brand, it’s their brand and CBA really wants it to be a digital only bank, which is crazy,” Mr Hall said. Having bought Bankwest in the shadow of the Global Financial Crisis 16 years ago, CBA has gradually reined in the 129-year-old lender, first downsizing its interstate branch network, then taking over its big corporate clients on the east coast and finally two years ago, rolling up its WA business customers.