Fear that older people will be marginalised by proposed closure of Kaiapoi's Westpac branch

Tuesday, 4 May 2021

Westpac NZ closed its Winton branch in March. (File photo).

The potential closure of a Westpac bank branch in a small North Canterbury town has left the district mayor concerned for vulnerable and older residents.

If the closure in Kaiapoi goes ahead, people wanting to visit a Westpac bank in person will have to travel 11 kilometres north to Rangiora to reach their nearest branch.

The potential move has advocates for older people worried it may further exacerbate their feelings of isolation from society.

A Westpac spokesman confirmed the bank had last week started consultation with employees about potentially closing the Kaiapoi branch.

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The Kaiapoi River Queen and new shopping and bar complex on the Kaiapoi River bank.

He said the move was made following the end of Westpac’s lease there, and had taken into account a 38 per cent fall in counter transactions at the branch in the past year.

The decline in in-branch customers is a national issue, with a 65 per cent fall in the last four years, he said.

Waimakariri District mayor Dan Gordon said the proposed closure was concerning and would significantly affect the North Canterbury community, particularly Kaiapoi’s older and vulnerable residents.

“There are now 100 log-ins to online banking for each transaction in a branch, and Covid-19 has only accelerated these trends.

“Most households in New Zealand have access to either a landline, mobile phone or computer which gives them 24-hour access to banking. We encourage customers to talk to us about their banking options.”

If the closure goes ahead, customers would be able to use other banks’ ATMs for free and would still have access to the Rangiora branch.

An artist's impression of the completed Stadium Waimakariri set to open in Rangiora in July.

But Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon said the proposed closure was concerning and would significantly affect the North Canterbury community, particularly the town’s older and vulnerable residents.

Age Concern Canterbury chief executive Simon Templeton said older residents’ were continually feeling pushed out of the society they live in because businesses were moving in ways that put up barriers for some of them.

He said some of these residents may not be ableto get to Rangiora easily and may prefer to speak with bank staff in person.

“They rely on having services at their bank to go in and do their banking and change signatories. I'll strongly advocate for the presence of services in our community and protecting local jobs.”

Gordon said he hoped to meet Westpac’s chief executive David McLean to lobby for the branch to remain.

The branch's closure would be a “real shame” for a community that had grown despite the impacts of Covid-19, he said.

Electronic card consumer spending in the Waimakariri district, as measured by Marketview, increased by 3.1 per cent in the year to December 2020 compared to the previous year.

New dwelling building consents have doubled so far this year compared to 2020, and a new $28 million multi-use indoor court stadium is set to open in Rangiora at the end of July.

Age Concern Canterbury chief executive Simon Templeton said the charity receives concerns from older people about bank closures every week, many feeling pushed out of society.

“Everything is moving to online … for some people who can't through or don't want to suddenly start engaging in that world, they may have reached an age where they've coped for 90 years without internet banking and they just don't want to have to go down that path and relearn those things now.

“We can’t live without banks. When that institution is effectively locking you out from engaging with them then that's just not OK, and that’s how people are feeling.”

Westpac announced on Monday it had almost doubled its half-year profit to $583 million in the six months to March 31, compared to $297m a year earlier.

The New Zealand Bankers Association last month said that ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, TSB and Westpac, which are participating in a regional banking hubs trial, would not close regional branches until the end of the year.

But this would not include branches within major cities, those already announced, NZ Post/Kiwibank co-locations, or lease expiries.

Westpac said the Kaiapoi branch did not come under the agreement as it is part of the wider Christchurch area and was following a lease expiry.

“We fully support the regional banking hub trial and are committed to keeping all our rural branches open this year. If the closure goes ahead we retain a good network with 17 branches across Canterbury”.