October 6, 2021
Rumours about the imminent closure of Kingaroy’s ANZ Bank have been swirling for months but now it has been confirmed … the branch will close in March next year.
ANZ will be the third bank to pull out of the town, with Suncorp departing in 2017 and the Bank of Queensland branch closing in August this year.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said ANZ was abandoning its regional customers.
“The South Burnett continues to be hit with bank closures,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“I have been advised that ANZ Kingaroy will close its doors in March 2022, leaving behind thousands of business, community group and individual customers.
“This will be the third ANZ branch to leave my Nanango Electorate, with Kilcoy and Toogoolawah also closed over recent years.
“Unfortunately, this is now the common theme for the big banks, who believe they can service their customers just as well online.
“However, it will also be necessary for community groups, businesses and many individual customers to have access to face-to-face banking services.
“And we all know that many people in regional areas have poor internet connection, or no computer access at all, so internet banking isn’t always the answer.”
“I am hugely disappointed with the ANZ Bank and their decision to strip services from the South Burnett,” Mrs Frecklington said.
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Perhaps it is time for a community bank to now take up this gap in Kingaroy? The community benefit is well proven in smaller towns across the South Burnett.
Is there another bank in Kingaroy. Post Office may have to expand to do banking. Remove you accounts away from ANZ.
Fortunately, Kingaroy has other banking choices at the moment: Commonwealth, NAB, Westpac and Heritage.
Why would any bank wanna stay here for when nobody has vision for this area? When was the last time anything was built or done to keep families here? $11.2 million for some pipes and pretty flowers but not a cent has gone to entertaining the kids so they don’t turn to drugs or crime to break the boredom.
Very disappointed. Yet again, it’s the regional areas that get left behind. As I live in an area with poor internet service and can’t always get online, I will close my account with ANZ and go to a bank where you can still actually talk to someone.
Change your bank! It’s the only way to show your disapproval. I still speak to local people who bank with Suncorp and they complain non-stop about the branch leaving but they continue to bank with them.
Unfortunately in this day and age you can jump up and down all you like but unless you act with your wallet it will come to nothing.
We are disappointed that the ANZ Bank in Kingaroy will be closing. However we can always open an account with another bank in the town.
My husband’s grandfather was the first person to open an account with this bank on 7 February 1906. This bank was then know as the Union Bank.
Over the years there have been four generations of this family who have opened accounts with this ANZ branch.
If we choose to stay with this bank we will have to travel to Gympie or Dalby to be able to speak to a staff member.
A loss to the community when this bank has been in Kingaroy longer than the other banks.
Like you, Eddie, my grandfather was one of the first to open an account with the Union Bank in the early nineteen hundreds. His family, including my father, never banked anywhere else. It is the oldest bank in Kingaroy. Very sad it is closing.
Just how are people without vehicles supposed to travel to another town bank with no public transport system in or out of Kingaroy?
When will customers come first? Banks get away with too much, what other business opens @ 0930 closes at 1730 and makes millions in profit? Also closes for lunch?
Will the ATM remain? As we can bank and withdraw there.
I’m considering leaving the area all together. The high cost of council rates coupled with the lack of services is a death knell for the area. Fuel is too expensive to travel and in reality no one cares about the community.
It does not feel safe to change passwords PIN numbers online.