Finley is about to lose its second bank branch in as many years, with the Commonwealth Bank branch slated for closure on April 23.
A public notice announcing the closure was posted to the front door of the Murray St branch on Monday morning.
It comes less than two years after the Bendigo Bank announced, in October 2019, that it would close its Finley branch.
The only physical bank that will remain is the National Australia Bank, which is now only open three hours each weekday.
There are still fears in the local community this reduction will be made permanent, or points to another future closure.
Finley Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture president Garry Carr said the closure of any business has an impact on the community, and the loss of physical banking services will be ‘‘significant’’.
‘‘It comes as a bit of a shock, and a disappointment,’’ Mr Carr said.
‘‘There are many people who come to Finley to bank from surrounding towns; it’s definitely a drawcard.
‘‘We understand the bank’s reasoning, but it is still a real shock to go from full operation to zilch.’’
Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA) regional general manager Norm Swift said the decision to close the Finley branch was financially motivated, due to the change in consumer behaviour.
‘‘This branch has had a 47 per cent drop in transactions over the past five years,’’ Mr Swift said.
‘‘The Coronavirus pandemic has also accelerated a continuing shift in banking behaviour with a significant proportion of our customers seeking assistance through our Australian-based contact centres.
‘‘Naturally, this has also resulted in a significant increase in customers self-serving on the app or via NetBank, and a significant reduction in foot traffic in our branches.
‘‘In the 2020 financial year there were 6.3 million CommBank app logins per day, peaking at 10.2 million daily logins on the app and NetBank portal during the Coronavirus pandemic.
‘‘Foot traffic across our branch network remains down more than 50 per cent in some branches, as people follow social distancing and imposed lockdown restrictions.
‘‘Customers in older demographics are actively engaging with CBA online.
‘‘For customers over the age of 60, more than twice as many had accessed NetBank or the CommBank App in the past month, compared to the number who had visited a branch in the last three months.’’
The sign posted at the Finley CBA branch says a CBA outlet would remain active at the Finley Post Office, and recommended those needing physical banking attend branches in Cobram or Deniliquin.
Mr Carr said Chamber would now pursue meetings with representatives of the NAB in a proactive attempt to prevent its future closure.
He said any further loss of jobs and services from the community would be detrimental.
Mr Swift told the Southern Riverina News all Finley based staff would be offered an opportunity to remain working within the CBA.
‘‘Our people from this branch will be offered redeployment opportunities, including roles supporting customers over the phone and online, roles supporting local customers in surrounding branches, or other comparable roles where it suits them.
‘‘There are no job losses as a result of this decision,’’ Mr Swift said.