Westpac has told staff it is considering closing its Wairoa branch in early April. Photo / File
Westpac has told staff it is considering closing its Wairoa branch in early April. Photo / File
Wairoa could be down to a single in-person banking option in a few months, with its local Westpac branch confirming it is considering closing in early April.
With BNZ's Wairoa branch confirming last week it is closing in May, the isolated district could soon be left with a combined Kiwibank/PostShop as its only over-the-counter banking provider.
A Westpac NZ spokesperson said consultation with employees about closing the Wairoa branch began on February 4.
"Over-the-counter transactions in branches have fallen by 41 per cent in Wairoa in the past year and have fallen 65 per cent nationally in the past four years.
"We encourage customers to talk to us about their banking options."
Jean Cooper, the treasurer for the Wairoa & District association of Grey Power, said people are pretty uptight about it all.
She said Westpac is only open two days a week as it is, and on those days there are queues down the street.
"I've got people that are a little distressed because the last thing they want to do is go out and buy a computer, go on the internet when they don't know anything about it.
The Waipukurau Westpac branch closed for good last December. Photo / File
"I don't think you can expect somebody that's in their 80s and has never used a computer or whatever to actually start learning."
She added the isolation of Wairoa makes it an even bigger blow, with the nearest branches more than an hour's drive away in Napier and Gisborne.
"We don't have a bus service that you can go and come back in one day."
She said she wished there could be a longer transition period for customers to adjust to online banking but she felt there wasn't much hope of Westpac listening.
