Bankwest to close more Perth branches

Bankwest will shut the doors of three of its Perth metro branches by the end of the year due to the stores becoming “increasingly unsustainable” to operate amidst a shift to digital banking.

The Commonwealth Bank subsidiary today confirmed it will close its Baldivis and Osborne Park storefronts alongside its South Perth branch in November, as reported by Business News yesterday.

Bankwest will close its Baldivis branch on November 7, its Osborne Park store on November 23 and its South Perth location on November 16.

In a statement, the bank said it would direct further investment towards meeting "growing customer preferences for digital and broker services amid declining branch transactions, leading to three Perth metro branch closures in late 2023."

Today’s announcement marks the confirmed closure of four Bankwest branches this year so far, including the folding of its Subiaco store in July.

That leaves Bankwest with just 11 instore banking locations around Perth.

“I understand these changes will cause some inconvenience, but we are seeing more branches become increasingly unsustainable to operate as customers banking preferences shift to digital options,” Bankwest general manager personal banking Scott Spittles said.

“Customer demand for digital banking services continues to grow, with digital transactions accounting for about 97 per cent of all transactions, while in-branch services have declined 44 per cent in the past three years.

“WA branches now average just 39 transactions a day with that volume expected to almost halve to 22 a day as business customers, who account for almost half of branch transactions, transition away from Bankwest.”

Bankwest announced in February last year that it would be transitioning its business customers to parent company Commonwealth Bank.  

It also announced the planned closure of its 14 eastern seaboard branches and a reduction in opening hours at 29 regional branches in Western Australia.

At the time, Bankwest said the opening hours at most of its regional branches would move to between two and four days per week.

In today's statement, Bankwest said it intends to retain impacted colleagues through re-skilling and re-training programs and through career opportunities in Commonwealth Bank Group roles.

“As a major WA employer, our fluid workforce initiative enables us to work with branch colleagues to retain their talents in roles where customers want more support, in our customer service center, or in other roles in the group,” Mr Spittles said.

Bankwest's customers will still be able to access in-person banking services through its partnership with Australia Post and the Bank@Post initiative, which enables post offices to service some everyday banking transactions for Bankwest customers.