By Jeremy Sollars
SUNCORP has issued a categorical assurance it has no plans to close its Warwick branch, following the announcement its Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi branches will close.
As reported this week in the Free Times the banking and insurance giant will shut the doors of its outlets in the two towns on 20 January next year, prompting outrage from customers.
Suncorp says the closures reflect the growing trend of online banking and less of a need for a face-to-face customer service presence.
As concern mounted over the future of the Warwick branch – and after an earlier, lukewarm response which left the option open – Suncorp, on Friday 28 October, issued a statement saying the Warwick branch on Palmerin Street was staying put.
“There are no plans to close the Warwick store,” a Suncorp spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to invest in regional communities across our many businesses and we will support customers to access the range of options they have for banking with us.”
As well as Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi, Suncorp will also ditch its branches in Miles and Kingaroy.
The company has refused to give specific details about job losses at the Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi branches, saying they were “consulting” and “working closely” with the affected employees.
“Like all service providers, we regularly review our services, channels and locations and make changes based on customer and community behaviour and demands,” Suncorp said in an earlier statement.
“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.”
Maranoa MP David Littleproud has labelled the move a “debacle” and says he has made “urgent representations” to Suncorp to access the customer visitation data they have used to determine the need for the closures.
He has called on customers to “vote with their feet” and take their business elsewhere.
A spokeswoman for Mr Littleproud said on Friday he was still waiting on a response from Suncorp.
