The news the Wingham Commonwealth Bank will remained closed permanently has angered locals and left some of its most vulnerable customers with little choice but to travel as far as 50km to the next nearest branch.
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The branch was closed temporarily earlier this year due to the COVID-19 crisis and staff reassigned to support customers via phone and online.
However the bank has now confirmed the closure is permanent and the branch will not re-open.
The ATM will also close on Friday, October 23.
The CBA said staff will be redeployed to comparable roles to suit and suggests there will be no job losses due to the closure.
The branch is said to have seen a 32 per cent drop in transactions in the last five years and cites a recent review and a lease expiry as deciding factors for the closure.
"While we recognise branches play an important role in delivering great service, many of our customers are increasingly choosing to use our online channels for their banking," Sara Sutton, regional general manager said.
Not all customers though, particularly the elderly, are comfortable banking online.
There are also many locals without a reliable internet service.
"We've ensured customers who prefer over-the-counter service still have access to this option," said Ms Sutton.
"For Wingham customers, we have a nearby branch at Taree."
The CBA said 23 per cent of its customers from Wingham are already visiting the Taree branch.
Cedar Party resident and CBA customer Ian Reade is outraged by the decision.
"It's just ridiculous what they are doing," Ian said.
"It's not just the residents in Wingham itself but outlying areas such as Mount George etc who would have to travel to Taree."
The Upper Manning community of Mount George is at least 25km from Taree and Elands nearly 50km.
Both communities - like others - rely heavily on Wingham as their nearest service town.
The CBA said its customers still have options in Wingham.
"The Wingham Post Shop one block away, is available for customers to conduct personal and business banking transactions such as withdrawals, deposits and bill payments including passbooks during normal business hours," said Ms Sutton.
For everyday banking needs this may lessen the need for some locals to travel to Taree but as Ian Reade points out, it's not always a convenient option.
"The post office is doing a great job but come Christmas the place will be packed," he said.
And it's not just at the local post office that the CBA suggests customers do their banking.
"EFTPOS also allows customers to withdraw cash at participating supermarkets and service centres," said Ms Sutton.
Whether CBA customers have to buy something at these other businesses in order to do a spot of banking is not clear.
What is clear is that the CBA offers many other services that customers simply won't be able to access in Wingham offline.
The post office is doing a great job but come Christmas the place will be packed
- Ian Reade
Ian has lodged a formal complaint with the CBA and if recent comments on local Facebook groups are anything to go by, others are too.
There is also a growing call to ditch the CBA in favour of the Regional Australia Bank which still has a branch in Wingham.
And an ATM.
