Bank’s closing doors to elderly

Ms Cotsis said that last year ANZ made $6 billion in profits but when times got tough, they closed their doors on “our community”.
“ANZ claim their customers prefer to bank online, however many people still prefer to be able to speak with a real person,” she said.
“Last year, I held a ‘Bring Your Bills’ event in Earlwood where more than 500 people attended because they wanted to be able to receive help face-to-face.
“The closure of the ANZ Earlwood Branch will disadvantage people who do not use online banking. Many of these people are older residents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”
ANZ’s district manager for Sydney’s Inner West, Matt Parkinson, said the closure on July 22 was in response to a reduction in foot traffic across its national branch network.
He says the bank’s customers are not using branches like they used to but at the same time, demand in contact centres, which manage hardship and other customer enquiries, has grown dramatically.
“We have written to customers to let them know how we can work with them on alternative banking methods, including online, telephone and mobile banking,” he said.
“We recognise the transition will be more challenging for some customers.
“Our staff will be proactively contacting elderly customers to support their individual banking needs.”
Staff at the bank were redeployed.