Bank announcement sends shockwaves

Bank announcement sends shockwaves through small rural business community

Helensville businesses will face an hour return trip just to do their daily banking following on from a decision from the ASB to close its Helensville Branch.

The scheduled closure in just over a month has been condemned by the North West District Business Association, which represents business interests in Helensville as well as the other five rural communities in the area.

Association Manager Gary Holmes says the announcement this week has been met with disbelief by residents and businesses alike, many of whom now face up to an hour long return trip each day to do their daily banking.

“Many of the Helensville Businesses are manned by owner / operators who simply do not have the ability to spend an hour to get to Westgate or Albany before the bank closes at 4.30pm,” Mr Holmes says.

“The existing ASB branch is also the only place where businesses can get change from and if the ASB move - there are no other easy options. Many businesses do not even have EFTPOS facilities due to the setup cost”.

“Cash transactions are a big part of everyday life for many of our businesses so the replacement of a full operational branch with a single ATM machine will not be sufficient. For many of the local elderly residents who do not have their own vehicles, there is simply no public transport options to enable them to get to either Westgate or Albany”.

Mr Holmes says that while he can appreciate the reason given by the bank for the closure being declining transactions due to the increase in online and mobile banking, he is critical of the short notice given by the bank of the move.

“One month is not a lot of time for businesses to find alternative options for cash handling and potentially setting up new bank accounts with alternative institutions, he said. “It’s not as though the business community can just pop around the corner to a neighbouring branch”.

Mr Holmes says the Business Association will advocate to the bank on behalf of its members about possible alternatives to a full-scale retreat from the community and is committed to working with its members to minimize the effects of any change.

ENDS

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