Friday, February 14, 2025
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More branch closures for Logan as banks abandon face-to-face

A second bank this year has pulled the plug on one of its Logan branches.

Heritage Bank has announced its Beenleigh branch will be closing in April – its second branch closure in the area in the last three years.

On Tuesday, MyCity Logan reported that the Bank of Queensland was closing two of its local branches at Logan Central and Springwood in February.

Over the last three years, Logan has seen the closure of the Heritage Bank branch at Woodridge, Commonwealth at Logan Central Plaza, Westpac at Loganholme, and NAB and ANZ at Beenleigh.

The trend of banks abandoning face-to-face service is growing nation-wide, with local community leaders labelling the move “despicable” and accusing the banks of choosing profits over people.

In an email to customers on Wednesday, Heritage’s chief customer officer Maria-Ann Camilleri said the Beenleigh branch and ATM were closing permanently from 4pm on Friday 4 April.

“We know the important role branches play in local communities, so we take these decisions very seriously,” she said.

“Over the years, we have seen a shift in how customers – including those in Beenleigh – choose to bank with us.

“Increasingly, customers are choosing card payments, ATMs, Internet Banking and our App for their day-to-day banking.

“Branches now make up less than 1% of all transactions.”

This statistic was also quoted by a BOQ spokesperson in a statement issued to MyCity Logan.

It seemingly comes from research conducted by the Australian Banking Association, which suggests 99.1% of transactions now take place digitally, with cash being used for just 13% of payments.

But many locals cherish and rely on face-to-face services.

Ms Camilleri said employees at the branch would be offered jobs at other branches.

“The nearest alternative branch is Heritage Bank Loganholme, which is 8.5 km from the Beenleigh branch,” she said.

“We will support everyone affected with care and understanding.”

Rankin MP Jim Chalmers, who as federal treasurer has been called on by the finance union to impose regulation on banks to prevent branch closures, last week said the news of BOQ’s branch closures was disappointing for customers and employees across Logan.

“Our thoughts are with the workers who will be affected and the customers in our area who rely on these branches to do their banking,” he said.

“We understand how important it is for people to access to banking services and we work closely with the banks to keep as many branches open as possible but ultimately, this was a commercial decision taken by BOQ.”

Queensland’s shadow treasurer and Waterford MP Shannon Fentiman said the closures were not good enough.

“… especially those that would prefer to have a chat face-to-face than go online for their banking,” she said.

“Our communities deserve banks that will put people before profit, and this just isn’t good enough.”

More to come.

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