Commonwealth Bank took over BankWest during the GFC in 2008. They were chasing the residential loan book, wiped out all the commercial loans sparking years of legal action. Westpac took out St George around the same time, shrinking the players in banking.
CBA has just announced BankWest will be going digital, shutting down dozens of bank branches in WA. The East Coast branches have already gone. Does this presage a further physical rout in traditional banking? ATMs will go in the CBA cost-cutting play.
Meanwhile Westpac and its wholly-owned St George Bank are on a branch closures spree, particularly in regional and remote areas. It’s the market, falling demand for in-person services, and for cash transactions, but the loss of jobs and facilities will have a social and economic impact.
The question is – now that ANZ has just been given approval to take out Queensland bank Suncorp – will the same thing happen in Queensland in three years time when pledges on staff and branches retire?
CBA’s mission was to shut down Bankwest. CBA bought Bankwest for its already existing residential mortgage loan book, as they bought it dirt cheap. They had no long term plan to keep staff and branches open. The Sale Deed of Bankwest to CBA sets it out.
Register your complaints… https://t.co/nMA3VIWWsR— warning warning (@exposecrimenow) March 6, 2024
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.