Labor strikes deal with banks to keep regional branches open   
The timing of a major announcement has been questioned as the Prime Minister looks to win over voters in key regional seats.


News.com.au
February 11, 2025

The Australian Postal Service has questioned the timing of a move to ban regional bank closures.

The federal government has shored up bush cash services by striking an agreement with the major banks to hold a moratorium on regional branch closures until July 2027 and increasing funding for Bank@Post operations.

Under the new terms of the Australia Post agreement, ANZ has joined Bank@Post, while Macquaire has begun negotiations and HSBC will start talks with the postal service.

All of this comes as Australia Post picks up a lot of the slack for cash services, as banks have left regional and rural areas over the last decade.

Licensed Post Office Group executive director Angela Cramp said the ban was a start, but it took “co-operation from a lot of self-interested people” to make it work.

“The devil is in the details of this great announcement today. The absolute positive of it is it has validated face-to-face financial services are essential and should be delivered by Australia Post,” she said.

The postal service has been left as the only source of cash for many regional and rural communities.   

“This is out here today because an election is being called shortly and the government wants to ensure regional and rural Australia feel like they have been included and remembered.”

She said the banks had left a lot of these communities due to being unprofitable, leaving the postal service to operate cash services.

“We do believe there needs to be something like an open-the door-payment, as there is an obligation to that service whether you use it or not,” Ms Cramp said.


“It’s a tricky one, as it’s why banks are leaving. They’ve encouraged everyone to go online and they’ve made their services easier online, but you can’t get $50 out of your phone no matter how clever you are.

“That’s the problem. We are finding an increased amount of people coming to the post office for their walking around money.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the announcement shored up banking services in the bush.

“Banks have a responsibility to regional Australia, and we’re making sure that they are meeting their responsibilities,” Mr Chalmers said.

“This is all about making sure that banks stay open in the bush.”

Almost 40 per cent of regional bank branches have closed since 2017, with Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority data finding nearly 800 bank branches were shuttered between 2017 and 2023.

The big four Australian banks have removed 217 ATMs in the past 12 months, while more than 8300 bank-owned ATMs were removed in the past seven years.   

Almost 40 per cent of regional bank branches have closed since 2017.

The big four Australian banks have removed 217 ATMs over the last year.

NAB has committed to a new ban on closing regional branches for 2½ years, while CBA and Westpac have extended existing bans.

It builds on conditions on ANZ and Suncorp, which previously agreed to not shut any regional bank branch for three years following their merger.

The government argued that face-to-face services remained essential, especially for those in regional areas, as digital alternatives might not be accessible.

New agreements were also reached for Bank@Post services, with CBA, NAB and Westpac all reaching in-principle agreements.

CBA and Westpac have extended existing bans on regional bank closures.

NAB has committed to a new ban on closing regional branches for 2½ years.
ANZ also agreed to join the service under key terms, while Macquarie and HSBC will begin negotiations with Australia Post over the services.

Nearly half of NAB’s branch networks serve regional communities, with 210 of the company’s 437 branches being in rural and regional areas.

Paul Graham has been in negotiations with the banks for 3 years just to get them to renew their agreement. Now he's whinging the govt. should have done it sooner

John Smith wrote on Feb 12^th, 2025 at 8:23am:



Does he not have a point?

As should the previous Morrison Govt.

Before Graham, Christine Holgate had turned Aust Post around after being left a mess by slash & burn crook Ahmed Fahour. She & her team put a lot of hard work into getting banking agreements sorted out for regional centres as well as maintaining Aust Post services under the red livery.

then Morrison sacks her over buying 4 Cartier watches for her executive team instead of giving them OTT cash bonuses.

So both parties have been responsible for problems with Aust Post and bank branches in regional towns and cities.

John Smith wrote on Feb 12^th, 2025 at 4:42pm:


Your right John.
I’ve mellow in my opposition because talking to a Australian post employee he explained that it’s really every service other than mail and package delivery that is keeping post office doors open.

I’m interested in what works best.
At least with labor ( I hope?) they will do a deal in favour of majority of Australians not just big bank shareholders?