Westpac has sought to pre-empt the recommendations of the Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia by announcing a moratorium on regional branch closures until 2027.
New Zealand’s competition regulator has called on the government to back the public Kiwibank to force competition onto Australia’s profit-gouging Big Four banks.
“Will the Albanese government allow CBA and BankWest to thumb their noses at their social licence and rip away all BankWest branch services in WA, or will they put their foot down and say enough is enough?”
The state which has lost the greatest percentage of regional bank branches since 1975 will host the next hearing of the Senate inquiry on Wednesday in Kingston SE.