[Janelle Ward]

Remember when the bank was a feature in most country towns and suburbs? If you do, you’re showing your age because ATMs and bank branches are disappearing at a rapid rate. At the same time, more Aussies are hoarding $50 and $100 notes.

Figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) show the number of ATMs across the country has fallen from 13,814 in 2017 to 6412 in June 2022.

In NSW, the numbers dropped from 4433 to 2083 and, in Victoria, from 3382 to 1725 over that five-year period.

The total number of bank branches fell from 5694 to 4014 between 2017 and 2022. In NSW, branch numbers decreased from 1861 to 1335 and in Victoria from 1361 to 958.

The four major banks say they had about 3050 fewer ATMs in 2020 than five years ago.

Westpac had 1429 ATMs in 2020, 1644 fewer than in 2015; the Commonwealth Bank had 3822 in 2015 and 3019 in 2020; ANZ had 2616 in 2015 and 2105 in 2020, while NAB shed 430 machines over the same period, leaving it with 949 in 2020.

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said late last year that the value of cash withdrawals was down by 17 per cent from three years earlier. Oddly though, he added: “Despite this decline in the use of cash for day-to-day transactions, there is still strong demand for banknotes as a store of wealth, with 38 $50 banknotes and 18 $100 banknotes on issue for every Australian.”

Do you still use an ATM on occasion? Is it hard to find one? Are you shocked by the number of bank notes being held?

[Taragosun]

I cannot remember the last time I used an ATM. If I need cash I get it from the supermarket when I do the shopping. Thankfully a lot of shoppers in our rural suburb are “older” and still use cash for their shopping so the supermarket does have cash available.
90+% of our transactions are on line or by credit card.
The local ANZ Bank has closed down in our rural suburb and the Westpac and St George (owned by Westpac) have now combined their services in the one location. There is still CBA, NAB and a Credit Union so we are pretty well serviced … still……

[KSS]

So many organisations and comp[anies are forcing their customers to apps these days. All very well but if you do not have a smartphone, lose it or if you do or simply choose NOT to conduct your affairs through your phone you are being excluded from goods and services. The latest for me is Vodafone. They have now removed the option of logging in through their website (rather than the app). This means that I am now forced to use the app or go elsewhere. I use Vodafone pre-pay (yes yes I know it is more expensive but I only pay for what I use – 365 days usage on calls and monthly rollover on unused data). I had to cancel my credit card and get a replacement and now there is no way to change the details with Vodafone. A complaint has resulted in nothing and no promised call back either. And this is not the only company to do this. A total disregard for sections of their customer base in my opinion. Likewise with the banks. First, they forced you into using ATMs and now they are forcing you to their apps. All well and good until there is an outage, a hack (don’t tell me it can’t happen), you are in a dead spot with no coverage (as happened to me recently just 2 hrs outside of Sydney) or your phone is lost or stolen. Then there is no access and no redress. I am so over being forced to do things then told by the same company that there is ‘no demand’ for that particular service.

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