Bank Branch Closure
Posted by: margaretjulia
17th Aug 2022 05:13pm
I live in Adelaide suburban area and over the last few years the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, National Bank have all closed their branches. I now need to travel over 10 Kms to access a branch. Trying to ring a customer service number means waiting online for a long time and sometimes being told that the service not operating. I do not use apps but can bank online for bills etc but sometimes need to visit a branch. I am finding technology changing quickly and am having trouble keeping up with it. Last night I needed something verified by SMS and found it could only be verfied by using an app on a smartphone. I do not have a smart phone. Do other people find changing technology challenging?
You must be a member to reply to this chat topic. Click here to sign in.
Help Caféstudy members by responding to their questions, or ask your own in Café Chat, and you will get the chance of earning extra rewards. Caféstudy will match these and donate equally to our two chosen Australian charities.
Australian Marine Conservation Society are an independent charity, staffed by a committed group of scientists, educators and passionate advocates who have defended Australia’s oceans for over 50 years.
ReachOut is the most accessed online mental health service for young people and their parents in Australia. Their trusted self-help information, peer-support program and referral tools save lives by helping young people be well and stay well. The information they offer parents makes it easier for them to help their teenagers, too.
Comments 2
kidwithsmurf
Bank closures are terrible, I feel they are just closed to increase profits for the big bank bosses. This is because it costs to hire someone to work in a bank branch and only having to pay one or two people to run the physical branch to tell you to call a number and wait forever or to go online to sort your problem is a lot cheaper.
It's just a cost cutting method, so the big bosses can earn millions. I've had branches close where I live and I've gone in to request something as simple as a bank statement and been told they can't print (I guess paper costs money)? It then took them over a week to email the statement to me (What if I required it then and there?). Furthermore, with people in your case and elderly that have always walked into a branch and only know how to use a branch... it is terrible. They do not have smartphones, computers, email and if they do... they don't know how to use them.
So yes, banks are cost cutting, but they're destroying lives in doing so. This said, once you force someone who has always used a branch and doesn't understand technology to use online banking... This is when cyber crime happens and people lose their life savings. Also, you can't do everything you want online and sometimes need to talk to someone. Waiting on hold on the phone, talking to an overseas person who can't see what your issue is or understand your problem like they can in person is not ideal.
So yes, Bank Branch Closure is the worst. There needs to be someone or a group of people qualified enough in branch to be able to help people who don't know how to use online, can't do what they want online and or don't even have the technology to do it online.
Overall, changing technology... people just have to adapt. But that said, you then have people who can't adapt because they are beyond understanding, don't want to understand, can't afford to own or run a smart phone/computer (My grandparents never had internet)... Thus, things need to stay open such a bank branches for those that need them.
PGS
Bank closures (apart from increasing profits) are because we apparently only want to do net banking.
Then there is the management level bonuses based on profit which is increased by shutting doors & putting off staff.