The riverside town of Tewantin will soon be down to having only one bricks and mortar bank, as one of the “big four” confirms it will permanently close its doors.
On November 4, the Tewantin Commonwealth Bank Branch and its ATM will permanently close and merge with the Noosa Heads Branch, leaving the Tewantin Bendigo Bank as the last bank standing in the township.
At least six major banks have closed for good on the Sunshine Coast within the last three years.
Following the closure, existing Tewantin CBA customers are being directed to either the Noosa Heads branch or the Tewantin Australia Post for their banking needs.
It comes after CBA recently shut the doors of its Beerwah branch, in September.
Following a review of the Beerwah branch, coupled with the expiry of its lease, CBA Regional General Manger Kylie Hall said the bank made the “difficult decision” to permanently close its doors.
ANZ also closed its Beerwah branch in February 2021, leaving the Bank of Queensland as the only full-service banking option in the area.
The CBA Cooroy Branch was also closed permanently in 2019 due to increases in online banking almost halving the number of over-the-counter transactions.
In March, Suncorp revealed it would close 15 metropolitan branches around Australia, with the Nambour branch making the cut.
Ms Hall revealed the reason behind the Tewantin branch closure was also due to a substantial drop in transactions.
Ms Hall said the bank conducted regular reviews of its branches across Australia to help them make informed decisions on where to open new branches, where to renovate or upgrade existing branches, and, in cases, where to close branches.
“After a recent review, we made the difficult decision to permanently close our Tewantin branch, which has had a 75 per cent drop in transactions over the five years before the coronavirus pandemic,” Ms Hall said.
“We’ve redeployed the vast majority of staff from branches that have closed, and I can confirm that all Tewantin staff have roles, with some team members relocating to our Noosa branch.”
She said the bank’s realisation that some senior customers preferred to do their banking face-to-face was one of the reasons CBA were “proud to maintain the largest branch network in the country”.
“We invest around $50 million in our branch network each year to upgrade or refurbish existing branches and open new branches where we see customer demand,” she said.
But she said customers who prefer over-the-counter service would still have access to this option, but if they lived in Cooroy or Beerwah or Tweantin they would have to travel.
“For Tewantin customers, we have other branches in the region at Noosa Heads, Coolum, Nambour and Maroochydore,” she said.
“We’ve found 34 per cent of customers from Tewantin are already visiting these other branches.”
She said the team at Tewantin was there to help CBA customers until Friday, November 4.
For customers who prefer face-to-face banking, Australia Post’s Bank@Post service is also available at the Tewantin Post Shop. It’s available for personal and business banking transactions, including withdrawals and deposits, as well as passbook transactions during normal business hours.
Customers can also access their accounts 24 hours a day through NetBank or the CommBank app.
Earlier in the month, a local bank bucked the “big bank” trend after recently opening a specialist lending office in Maroochydore.
Since the opening of its Maleny Branch in 2019, Queensland Country Bank has experienced steady growth, with more 1500 Members in the region and total loans of $25 Million.
The bank said the second location helped highlight Queensland Country Bank’s “commitment to the Sunshine Coast, especially as more major banks close branches across the state”.
Mountain Creek local and retail business development manager, Tristan Scott, is available to assist members with residential and commercial lending requirements.
“Buying a house or dealing with finance can be confusing and frustrating for many people,” Mr Scott says.
“People want to deal with an expert, but they also want to deal with real person who can answer their questions or explain things in a simple manner.”
SUBSCRIBE here now for our FREE news feed, direct to your inbox daily!
