Finance Sector Union (FSU) representatives will today give evidence to the Senate Inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia.
The hearings are being held today at Parliament House in Canberra.
FSU National Secretary, Julia Angrisano said the Union will outline the impact of branch closures on communities in regional areas.
“We know that the decisions on branch closures are made based on artificially low transaction numbers based only on over-the-counter transactions and they don’t count interactions that aren’t deposit or withdrawal transactions,” said Ms Angrisano.
“Unfortunately, these transactions are the ones that cannot be done anywhere but at a bank branch.
“They range from identity checks to cries for help from the most vulnerable in the community impacted by violence or misadventure. It includes loan applications, opening new accounts for children or community organisations.
“All these interactions have one thing in common. They must be performed by a suitably qualified bank worker. They can’t be done in a post office.”
Ms Angrisano said it was time to declare banking an essential service and ensure banks that make billions of dollars of profit from the Australian community were obligated to provide banking services to those in rural and regional Australia.
Chief executives of the major banks are also scheduled to give evidence at the hearings.
