Lithgow's Reliance Bank will will cease as a transactional branch on Monday, September 21, however they will not be leaving Lithgow.
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The bank will be setting up a call centre operation in town as well as recruiting a new position, a mobile lending specialist.
Reliance Bank Chief Executive Officer Danny Pavisic said the change has come about because they had noticed a change in the way their members were conducting their banking with them.
"Many now choose to transact online or use their Visa cards, whilst over-the-counter branch transactions have been rapidly decreasing," he said.
"In fact, many members are now not visiting branches at all as over 95 per cent of transactions are done electronically.
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"At the same time we have seen increased demand, particularly since the onset of COVID-19, for our call centre and mobile lending services."
Mr Pavisic said that for some time the Lithgow branch has only provided limited emergency deposit and withdrawal services and has seen a steady decline in the number of over-the-counter transactions.
"On average, our Lithgow branch only does eight transactions per day making it un-viable to continue the current operations, without making some changes," Mr Pavisic said.
But with this change means the loss of two part time positions.
"However we will be retaining one of our existing full time staff members who will move to the Lithgow Call Centre operation," he said.
"In addition, we will shortly be recruiting for the new mobile lending specialist position."
Mr Pavisic said they expect to have the same staffing requirements as they do now.
The bank will also be moving to a new premises but it is currently unknown where in Lithgow this will be.
"We will be vacating the existing site and are currently negotiating to share premises with a well-known business," he said.
What to do if this affects you
For members who still wished to access cash or make deposits there are a number of options Reliance has in place.
"Cash can easily be obtained from ATMs or by using EFTPOS cash out at the local supermarket. We also have an arrangement with Australia Post where Members are able to deposit and withdraw at any of the 3,500 Post Offices, including Lithgow, that offer banking services," Mr Pavisic said.
According to Mr Pavisic since COVID-19 started they noticed that many of the older members needed to do their banking differently, especially when businesses started preferring card payments over cash and travel restrictions were in place.
"In April 2020 we started calling all of our members to ensure that they could continue to do their banking remotely, checking that they had Visa cards and knew how to use internet banking and our app," he said.
"Feedback from members has been overwhelmingly positive and many members had already adapted their banking habits not having been into our branch for some time."
"Our Lithgow staff are also contacting those members who occasionally come into the branch to explain the changes and discuss their options," he said.
Mr Pavisic said for a number of years the entire banking industry has seen a gradual shift away from over the counter branch services.
"Members are increasingly using electronic and card banking options, call centre services and demanding specialist mobile lenders," he said.