Bankwest reveals closure of all WA branches, 350 jobs affected in shift to digital only

Commonwealth Bank is bringing the curtain down on Bankwest’s 129-year-old branch network with a shock mass closure aimed at remaking the State’s oldest lender as a “digital only” bank.

Staff and customers were told on Wednesday that Bankwest’s 60 branches would be either closed or rebadged to CBA by October, and the 350 affected staff offered new roles.

CBA, which bought Bankwest in the shadow of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, had made no secret of its plan to recreate the regional lender as an online bank for homeowners, citing the ever weakening use of branches by customers.

However, the mass shutdown will still come as a shock to employees and customers, who would have expected a longer transition, even allowing for its increasing number of branch closures in recent years.

Bankwest said the final 45 branches to close — 28 in Perth and 17 in regional WA — include five already slated for closure by mid-April.

Its remaining 15 branches, all in country centres, will be converted over to CBA by the end of the year, but their future is not guaranteed beyond 2026.

The bank has run a branch network since it was founded in 1895 as the Agricultural Bank, later the Rural & Industries Bank, with the backing of then-premier John Forrest as “a novel experiment in State enterprise” to help fund the cultivation of the Wheatbelt.

But Bankwest said on Wednesday that the dwindling number of customers no longer justified the significant investment in its far-flung network, which includes both owned and rented properties.

About 97 per cent of transactions with the bank are now done online by increasingly tech-savvy customers, with the branches handling an average of just 30 over-the-counter transactions a day. In the regions, it is only 15.

Barely 2000 of its about 550,000 WA customers only use a branch, and Bankwest insists it will help them move across to CBA so they can continue to bank at a branch.

However, the Finance Sector Union described the closure call as “outrageous” and accused CBA and Bankwest of abandoning disadvantaged customers, including the elderly and those with a limited grasp of English, who struggled with digital products.

It also said affected staff who enjoyed interacting face-to-face with customers would be offered jobs in areas they didn’t want.

CBA’s commitment to Bankwest since its $2.1 billion purchase has been questionable, with its ownership marked by cutbacks to the subsidiary’s reach and services.

However, Bankwest said on Wednesday the parent would “redirect” or create WA 500 jobs in IT, operations and customer service in support of the digital transition, while investing significantly in the brand, new products and its digital platform.

The Bankwest boss, executive general manager Jason Chan, said the closure of the network was a difficult but necessary decision if the bank was to survive in a rapidly changing environment where most people tap digital banking.

Mr Chan said that while some customers would find the news “quite confronting”, the announcement provided some well overdue certainty about Bankwest’s future.

It was “probably no secret” that CBA had struggled to identify how it wanted to use Bankwest, one of the State’s biggest mortgage lenders, but “now we’ve got a really clear role to play in the CBA group”, he said.

“By doing this now and going a little bit harder, we can unlock that investment and get those jobs and get that new capability and lift the experience for 97 per cent of customers using digital channels.”

The 350 staff - including 129 in regional WA - impacted by the shutdown represent about 10 per cent of Bankwest’s 3000-strong workforce.

Mr Chan said they would be redeployed across the CBA group, with “a broad range of career pathways” on offer.

“We will continue to evolve in the years to come to ensure we remain a sustainable, growing and successful WA-based business, and a major WA employer, in a highly competitive national banking sector,” he said.

The Bankwest country branches to close are Bunbury Forum, Busselton, Manjimup, Margaret River, Albany, Katanning, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Merredin, Moora, Narrogin, Northam, Geraldton, Broome, Karratha, Kununurra and Port Hedland.

Bridgetown, Collie, Dunsborough, Pemberton, Denmark, Kojonup, Mount Barker, Corrigin, Dalwallinu, Jurien, Kondinin, Narembeen, Lake Grace and Newman will continue, but under the CBA banner.