Aussie bank under fire as 90 jobs at risk following digital move
Commonwealth Bank subsidiary Bankwest is under fire after announcing it will cut up to 90 roles over the next three months. The move means nearly 400 roles have been slashed since the Aussie bank closed its entire retail branch and ATM network last year.
Bankwest confirmed it would axe its 130-person 'transition team', with 122 jobs impacted in Western Australia. The team was established in 2022 to move business banking customers across to CBA after the bank decided to withdraw Bankwest from business banking services.
A Bankwest spokesperson said at least 32 impacted workers would move into new roles within the CBA group. The remaining 90 jobs not directly appointed to new roles will be able to 'explore new opportunities in the group'.
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The Finance Sector Union (FSU) said the cuts went against CBA's promise to the Western Australian government to create 500 more jobs following last year's closures.
'Unfortunately the WA Government has been sold a pup here – 500 group roles were promised in return for Bankwest going completely digital,' FSU national secretary Jason Hall said.
'Instead, the bank continues to cut local jobs.'Bankwest said it had recruited Western Australians into more than 370 of the 500 roles redirected to the state and would aim to put some of the workers displaced from the transition team into vacant roles, including financial crime compliance, operations and customer service.
Hall said workers were 'fed up of being at constant risk of losing their jobs', with customers and staff facing 'uncertainty' since the bank decided to withdraw from business banking.
The FSU said it would seek an urgent meeting with WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti and ask her to 'immediately intervene'.
Bankwest closed all 45 of its branches across Western Australia last year in its transition to become a wholly digital bank, with a further 15 converted to CBA branches.
The bank said it was going digital due to changing customer behaviour, with 97 per cent of transactions now completed digitally and fewer than 2 per cent of customers visiting a branch regularly.
The number of bank branches across the country dropped by 230 in the last financial year and by 1,615 compared to five years ago, the latest APRA data found.
The major banks have committed to pause regional bank closures until July 31, 2027.
CBA acquired Bankwest in 2008. The bank had no physical footprint outside of the state, having already closed all east coast outlets by early 2023.Sign in to access your portfolio
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