Todd McClay to meet NZ Post over branch closures in Rotorua and Te Puke

The Tutanekai St PostShop will close from July 12. Photo/File

Rotorua MP Todd McClay will meet with New Zealand Post to seek assurances about postal and banking services in the region following recent announcements of branch closures in Rotorua and Te Puke.

The Tutanekai St PostShop will close on July 12 after Kiwibank announced last October it was to become a standalone bank offering more specialised services.

On Monday Kiwibank announced the Te Puke branch would also close and at the same time NZ Post said it would find an alternative way of providing postal services to the community.

McClay said the two communities were rightly concerned about these announcements and any loss of service they could experience.

"It is extremely important that New Zealand Post engages with locals and gives an absolute assurance that no service provision will be lost and that local people will not be inconvenienced as a result of a changed business model.

"The decision to pull out of Te Puke is extremely disappointing for residents and Kiwibank customers in Te Puke."

A Kiwibank spokesperson said Kiwibank and NZ Post were two separate businesses which currently shared the same premises in Te Puke.

"Declining customer volumes mean it is no longer viable for Kiwibank to maintain a physical branch for banking services in Te Puke," the spokesperson said.

"NZ Post is able to continue to provide postal services by partnering with a local business."

The changing needs of Kiwibank customers and the services they used in branches, as well as nearby alternative branch options, were behind the decision to close the Te Puke branch.

Kiwibank's general manager of retail distribution, Geoff Waller, said the changes had been confirmed with staff and the organisation wanted to be open with the community about what it was doing, and how these changes may affect them.

McClay said Kiwibank was a bank owned by New Zealanders and operated for the benefit of New Zealanders.

"If it can't show commitment to a town like Te Puke then it clear that it is not putting the interests of New Zealand first.

"I will be delivering a message of profound disappointment to Kiwibank owners on behalf of locals, and asking them to revisit this decision.

Kiwibank is 100 per cent owned by NZ Post, ACC and the NZ Superfund. New Zealand Post is 100 per cent owned by the New Zealand Government.