As soon as the decision was made to close the Blayney NAB branch during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and move the staff to Orange, the branch has been on borrowed time.
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Notice has been issued to customers that the branch will be closing on Thursday April 15 and for Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson, the decision is disappointing.
"There is a whole generation out there that still depend on face-to-face banking," he said.
"There is still a real need there in the community for that kind of service."
Anne Mendham has been banking with NAB for 55 years and said that the people need a bit of loyalty from the bank.
"There are farming families around Blayney that have been banking with them since 1928, for those people on the land having to now go to Orange or Bathurst for those transactions that they can't do online is wrong," she said.
For the owner of Akehurst's Bakery Denise Lawson, the closure of the branch will add hours of travel, and uncertainty, every day.
"It's a long walk from the parking areas in Orange to the NAB branch on Summer Street," she said, "and it's an hour's driving extra every day to get there on time."
Ms Lawson added that simply changing banks is easier said than done.
"We have a business loan with them and our EFTPOS facility is with them, it's a really big thing to then have to change all of that."
Jan Steele said that community groups such as the Blayney Craft group would now be looking for alternatives.
"We come down here every fortnight and we'll now have to reconsider our options," she said.
Dawn Williams was more forthright in her assessment of NAB's performance.
"NAB makes enough money as it is," she said, "There are many customers who don't use computers or ATM's and still need cash for what they do."
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NAB Retail Customer Executive, Allison Baker said that customers are increasingly choosing to do their banking digitally, with more than 93% of customer interactions now taking place over the phone, by video or online.
"The number of customers using the branch continues to decline, with 74 per cent of our Blayney customers also using other branches in larger regional towns such as Orange and Bathurst," she said.
"We understand the importance of bankers to regional and rural communities like Blayney, and we will continue to support customers with their banking needs.
"We have been in contact with our customers and the local community to let them know that we are closing the branch and working with them to provide information to community members about the various ways they can continue their banking.
"We know that some NAB customers still like to bank in person and at the Australia Post outlet in Blayney NAB customers can do banking like check account balances, pay bills and make deposits up to $10,000 cash, or withdrawals up to $2,000 per day.
"Business customers in the area have access to 4 Business Bankers, to assist with alternate ways to continue to bank with us, and can also arrange note and coin change at the post office in Blayney. In nearby Orange, they can access Business Deposit and Quick change facilities that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week."
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Mark Logan
Started working in newspapers in the 1990's in the darkroom of the Pastoral Times in Deniliquin before moving to Millthorpe in 2003. Soon after arriving I started as a photographer at the CWD. Now a journalist at the Blayney Chronicle.
Started working in newspapers in the 1990's in the darkroom of the Pastoral Times in Deniliquin before moving to Millthorpe in 2003. Soon after arriving I started as a photographer at the CWD. Now a journalist at the Blayney Chronicle.
