By Jeremy Sollars
BANKING and insurance giant Suncorp has refused to rule out closing down its Warwick branch on Palmerin Street after confirming the impending closure of its branches in Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi.
Suncorp Bank issued a statement about the closures after being slammed by Maranoa MP David Littleproud over the move.
Suncorp said the closures, to take effect in January, are occurring because customers prefer to access its services online.
Branches in Kingaroy and Miles will also close.
Suncorp was unable to provide assurance that the Warwick Branch would not also face the axe.
“Suncorp is committed to delivering value to its customers through giving them the flexibility to bank when, where and how they want,” a spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to invest in regional communities across our many businesses and we will support customers to access the many options they have for banking with us.”
The spokeswoman would not give specific details about job losses at its Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi branches, saying they were “consulting” and “working closely” with the affected employees.
“We have enacted an extensive support program, which includes assistance in securing alternative employment, redeployment in other parts of the business, additional training and access to dedicated recruitment programs,” the spokeswoman said.
“It is anticipated the (Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi) stores will close on 20 January, 2017,” she said,
“We are commencing discussions with a number of stakeholders including staff, landlords, customers and partners, on this change.
“We will continue to keep all our stakeholders updated during this process.
“Like all service providers, we regularly review our services, channels and locations and make changes based on customer and community behaviour and demands.
“Over the last few years we have seen a significant change in the way our customers in Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi, and surrounding regions, engage with us.
“Increasingly, customers are choosing to use technology to complete their everyday banking.
“The decision to close a physical store is never taken lightly, but we’re finding that fewer customers choose to do their banking at the store.”
David Littleproud has labelled the move a “debacle” and said he is making “urgent representations” to Suncorp to access the data it has used to determine the need for the closures.
“I recently met with Suncorp Bank, where I was not only disturbed to learn of its decision to close branches in Kingaroy, Miles, Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe but also frustrated the bank is refusing to release its customer usage rates to justify their decision,” Mr Littleproud said.
“The bank needs to come clean about this data to prove why it’s shutting branches because I believe these rural communities are entitled to know the trigger point that kicked off this blanket closure.
“Whether you or your business banks with Suncorp, or you’re insured with one of the 10 companies owned by Suncorp, I ask customers to vote with their feet and no longer support a bank that doesn’t support rural communities.”
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