Major bank's 'deliberate' $55 million move as Australians rage over cashless shift
The Big Four bank has upgraded 100 branches across Australia since October last year, with 82 of these branches located in regional Australia. The bank said the upgrades were 'just the beginning', with 47 additional branch upgrades due by October.
NAB retail executive Paul Carter said the investment was a 'deliberate move to restore belief in the value of retail banking'.
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'We're not just giving our branches a facelift – we're investing in the people and places that make NAB what it is,' he said.
'These upgrades are about making banking easier, more personal, and more connected to the communities we serve.
'We see branches as community anchors, and we know that when it comes to major financial decisions, many people still want to sit down and talk to someone they trust.'
Greensborough in Melbourne's north-east is among the branches to be upgraded with a new layout, improved accessibility and spaces for customer conversations.
Branch manager Tawfick Abdel-Khalik said the bank had been in the community for more than 50 years and the refresh was aimed at showing that it planned to stay 'for the long haul'.
'When customers walk in and see the effort we've made, it sends a clear message: NAB is committed to this community and to providing the best service we can,' he said.
The move comes after NAB introduced Saturday trading in November and increased the number of branches offering it to 29 in February.Branch numbers drop across the country
Australia lost 230 bank branches across the country in the 2024 financial year, according to the latest APRA data. That brought the total number of branches closed to 1,615 over the last five years.
The Big Four banks closed 190 branches among them, with ANZ, NAB and Westpac branches dropping 11 per cent. Commonwealth Bank, who has come under fire for axing dozens of call centre roles in favour of AI, saw its branches fall by a smaller 4 per cent during the year.
The federal government struck a deal with the major banks in February this year to keep their regional branches open until at least mid-2027.
But not every bank has agreed to the moratorium, with Bendigo Bank recently confirming it would shut 10 branches from August due to "evolving customer preferences, a reduction in business activity and an increase in costs". This will leave some regional communities, like Queenstown in Tasmania, with no bank at all.
Resident Janet Lay told Yahoo Finance she was "absolutely furious" when she found out about the Queenstown closure and said it meant locals would have to drive two hours to their nearest branch.
Lay said she, like many others in the community, preferred to do banking in person and still transacts predominantly with cash.
"[There's] a lot of frustration in the community. A lot of upset people, a lot of anxiety about how they're going to manage their banking moving forward. So it's not just a financial impact, it's the personal wellbeing of community members and businesses," she said.
Aussies switch to digital banking and cashless transactions
The Australian Banking Association found 99.3 per cent of customer bank interactions now occurred via digital channels, with bank branch interactions dropping 51 per cent since 2019.
Cash withdrawals have dropped 9 per cent every year since 2019, with mobile wallet transactions surpassing ATM withdrawals more than 10 times by volume.
ABA CEO Anna Bligh said the country was undergoing a 'massive transformation' in how people banked.
'More and more Australians are jumping online to do their banking. Digital options are reshaping how people interact with their bank and manage their finances,' she said.
Despite this, she noted banks had more than 3,300 physical branches available across Australia and would continue to support access to cash for Aussies who wanted to use it.Sign in to access your portfolio
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