Major Aussie bank to face grilling after announcing it will shut all its ... trends now
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Bankwest executives will face an inquiry into rural bank closures, a week after the company announced it will shut all its branches in favour of online services.
The Commonwealth Bank subsidiary says it will become a digital bank when it closes 45 branches across Western Australia by October, while 15 regional sites will be converted to CBA operations.
Bankwest's announcement said 97 per cent of transactions were done online, with less than two per cent of its customers visiting branches regularly.
There was an average of 30 face-to-face transactions per day in its suburban branches and 15 in its regional locations, the company said.
'I understand this will be difficult news for some of our customers and Bankwest is introducing a range of support measures to help ... regular branch users carefully through this transition,' executive general manager Jason Chan said.
Company executives are expected to face the rural banking inquiry sitting in Tom Price, in WA's Pilbara region, on Wednesday afternoon.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan asked Bankwest to appear at the hearing, saying the closures were a disappointing decision.
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