As the two privately owned commercial banks left in Blayney slam their doors shut on the community, member owned Reliance Bank has declared that they're committed to the town.
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Reliance Bank general manager of sales and services David Gilbert said that the recent reduction of opening hours and the removal of the ATM is not a precursor of what's to come, and that the bank was increasing staff there.
"We've just appointed a brand new branch supervisor who will be starting within two weeks, so our commitment is to continue operating as we currently are," he said.
READ MORE: Blayney's NAB branch to close in April
Mr Gilbert said that the reduction of operating hours from 10am to 3pm was simply a means of keeping the branch open.
"Reducing our operating hours was a response to a couple of things," he said.
"Because of the move to digital we're trying to create some efficiencies within the business so that we can keep the branch there."
"We don't want to close the branch there in Blayney, we want to keep it open."
Mr Gilbert said that the Blayney branch is the perfect bank for locals looking to move from either the NAB or Commonwealth Bank for their day to day banking, although for some commercial banking such as loans there may need to be some travel involved.
"It's a normal kind of transactional branch, personal lending, mortgages, helping with international transfers, those kinds of things," he said.
"We may not have services like a commercial lender in Blayney, but we have someone in Bathurst who can assist and will happily come out and work with business."
As the major commercial banks target the 18-35 age group as that is where all the money is, it's the elderly that have been most affected by the closures Mr Gilbert said.
"That younger age group is where all the borrowers are and they do all their transactions online," he said.
"We are member owned and really want to look after the older members who prefer to make their transactions over the counter," he said.
"We don't have passbooks, they really are a thing of the past, but we're happy to sit down and help the elderly work through all their banking requirements."
As for the ATM closure, Mr Gilbert said that even before COVID had everyone going contactless, ATM transactions were on the decline.
"The ATM in Blayney was a commercial decision because it was costing us money every year," he said. "The majors will probably leave theirs behind, so we took ours out to keep the branch open."
HAVE YOUR SAY:
Will you be moving your accounts to Reliance Bank? How have the bank closures impacted you?
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.
