Australian town becomes latest to lose banks trends now
A mining town in South Australia is set to lose its last bank branch - forcing residents to travel hundreds of kilometres away.
Coober Pedy will lose its Westpac branch on February 17 and its residents will only be able to access banking through its post office, which has limited services available.
If they want any other services, the nearest bank is in Port Augusta, some 550 kilometres away.
The Australia Post Office has a daily withdrawal limit of $7,000, something which will harm businesses in the town, according to council CEO Tim Jackson.
It is the latest town to lose its physical branches as more and more banks push internet banking.
Coober Pedy will lose its Westpac branch on February 17 and its residents will only be able to access banking through its post office
Mr Jackson believes the pattern will harm the elderly and Aboriginal population of the town, plus others who have difficulty using the internet.
'I'm told people used to be able to walk into the bank and because they were known to bank staff, they would be able to access their accounts and transact and do withdrawals,' Coober Pedy Council CEO Tim Jackson told news.com.au.
'I was talking to one opal miner and he said that buyers, when they come into town, they need access to $100,000 to $200,000 in cash as transactions are generally done in cash in terms of the opal industry,' he said.
'So they will need to withdraw in Port Augusta and drive 550km down the highway with that amount of cash in their car, so that's a lot of risk issues and businesses will need to have personal safes. It's certainly going to be challenging.'
Meanwhile, the town of Berrigan, near the NSW-Victorian border, lost its last bank in October 2022.
Karina Ewer, CEO Berrigan Shire Council, has revealed that elderly residents of the town are now relying on library staff and other people to deal with their online banking issues, something that leaves them at risk.
'We have seen people like our library staff are often called on by elderly citizens who can't do online banking to manage their accounts, so they have passwords and identify
