The closure of two Big Four bank branches in the Riverina just days after a parliamentary inquiry hearing in the region has been denounced by community leaders.
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Temora will lose its National Australia Bank branch for good at close of business on Thursday, while the former mayor of Gundagai has branded NAB's departure from his community as a "disgrace" after the local branch closed on Tuesday.
It comes barely a week after the federal inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia heard a multitude of concerns from across the region in a day-long public hearing at Junee.
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Former Gundagai mayor and serving Cootamundra-Gundagai councillor Abb McAlister said the timing is a "disgrace".
"It's disgraceful NAB have closed our branch while there was a senate inquiry into bank closures taking place," Cr McAlister said.
To assist customers with the closure, NAB will be providing a community banker who will be based at the local Australia Post outlet for the next eight weeks.
Cr McAlister raised numerous concerns over the new Bank@Post setup, including the fact Gundagai's Australia Post outlet doesn't even have a store to itself.
He raised privacy and security concerns for customers as the post office shares a shop with the local grocery store.
![Former Gundagai mayor Abb McAlister said with the closure of its NAB branch this week, the town is now left without any of the Big Four banks. Temora's NAB branch will follow suit on Thursday. Pictures file, contributed Former Gundagai mayor Abb McAlister said with the closure of its NAB branch this week, the town is now left without any of the Big Four banks. Temora's NAB branch will follow suit on Thursday. Pictures file, contributed](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/172474527/b4b27a79-0fce-4631-aa76-721de77638ca.jpg/r0_0_1920_1079_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We've gone from being able to walk into the bank one day to walking into the grocery store to do our banking the next," he said
Cr McAlister also said customers are unable to access as many services as they would at a bank and will now be forced to travel to the Tumut branch or to Wagga's new NAB precinct.
However, it could be even worse for Temora NAB customers who won't have any in-person support with the bank confirming they can't fit a community banker inside the town's small post office.
Speaking at last week's public hearing in Junee, Temora mayor Rick Firman called for the Big Four banks to fund an independent bank assessor that will act in the best interests of the community and hold the banks to account.
Cr McAlister agreed and said more needs to be done.
"The worst part about it is those who make the big decisions at the top are all [doing so based] on incentives to do with profit," he said.
He also agrees with Cr Firman's call for the banking code of conduct to be made compulsory to give the community confidence in the banks.
"That way people can know where they stand with their banks and they can go and bank in good faith," Cr McAlister said.
He also praised the town's last remaining bank for "giving a lot back into the community" and for the commitment they have shown the town.
"Good luck to the Bendigo Bank. I really hope they benefit by the NAB closure," he said.
In response to this week's closures, NAB retail customer executive Matthew Leddy said it had been a "difficult" decision.
Mr Leddy said the decision had been made as "fewer customers are using [the branches] for their banking".
"While we understand the community will be disappointed, this decision was made after looking closely at the number of customers using the branch and the increased use of digital banking in the area," he said.
"Just as they're using online government services to complete their tax or a Medicare claim, locals in Gundagai and Temora are increasingly choosing to bank digitally because it's more convenient."
Mr Leddy said more than 93 per cent of transactions in Australia take place online today, and that number is increasing.
Despite the lack of a community banker at Temora after Thursday's closure, Mr Leddy said the teams at both Gundagai and Temora post offices are "ready to help NAB customers with their day to day banking through our Bank@Post service".
"Bank@Post is a significant investment for NAB which brings the convenience of banking services to more than 3,400 locations nationally in partnership with Australia Post," he said.
He also allayed any fears of job cuts, saying all employees at the branch have been "offered other roles across the bank".
The Commonwealth Bank announced in July it would put a moratorium on regional bank closures until the end of 2026, including its Junee branch which had been set to close in March.
But last week, NAB chief executive Ross McEwan told a senate inquiry hearing a moratorium has not worked elsewhere.
"I've been involved in many countries where the same issues have been put forward and had moratoriums of branch closures ... and the answer to that is that the branch closures happen as soon as the moratorium is off," Mr McEwan said.
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