The ANZ bank has reversed its decision to close it’s Bega branch.
It was announced back in March 2024 that the ANZ branch would close its doors for good in October this year.
But Bega Chamber of Commerce President John Watkin, told ARN Bega Bay, the closure was a breach of a recent ANZ takeover.
“We have actually discovered that when ANZ made a move to take over Suncorp Bank a little while ago, the Federal Treasurer, Jim Chalmers basically put in a lot of rules that ANZ had to follow if they were going to approve the takeover and one of those rules was that they were not to close any regional branches in Australia for a minimum of three years,” Watkin said.
“So from our point of view, ANZ have actually broken that promise (by closing the Bega branch) so we want to follow up on it.”
The Australian Treasurer approved ANZ’s proposal to take over Suncorp Bank on June 28, stating it could “proceed subject to enforceable conditions.”
These conditions included prohibiting regional branch closures for three years, requiring ANZ to make every effort to join Bank@Post, ensuring there were no net employment losses across Australia for three years due to the transaction, and insisting on proper engagement with employees and the Finance Sector Union.
“The acquisition has been proposed at a time of significant change in the banking sector, including growing competition from and opportunities in digital banking, and concerns about access to banking services particularly in regional and remote communities,” Mr Chalmers said.
We at ARN Bega Bay, emailed and called ANZ but are still awaiting a response from its media department.
In the meantime, ANZ got on the front foot and emailed its Bega customers on Wednesday afternoon (August 21) to inform them that the Bega branch would no longer be closing after all.
“We recently contacted you to let you know ANZ had made the decision to close its Bega branch, located at 176 Carp Street on Wednesday 23 October 2024.”
“After careful consideration of customer and community feedback, we’ve decided to retain our ANZ Bega branch,” the letter read.
Images: James Fennessy – ARN Bega Bay
