If banks are like buses, there will be another bank announcing it is closing its doors in Wynnum soon. Wynnum will soon lose its title as the suburb with almost every bank, as both ANZ and Suncorp have announced their closure just in the last few weeks. ANZ closes today and Suncorp is holding out until Friday 13th July. There are rumours that another bank will join them soon.
There are undoubtedly a number of factors that are contributing to these decisions to close, however, with more transactions going online and many more people using cards and tap-to-pay, there is less and less reason to go into a high street bank today than there was in the past.
At WynnumCentral we go into the bank every 3-4 months to pay in the odd cheque and that’s about it. Retailers who need to deposit cash may find the process a bit hard now and some will decide to change banks.
One bank that is not planning on leaving is the recently arrived Wynnum Manly Community Bank (part of Bendigo & Adelaide Bank) at 63 Bay Terrace. They have a long lease and state clearly that they are ‘here to stay’. The Community Bank model is also different from other high street banks as it reinvests a component of its profit back into the local community.
More info – https://www.bendigobank.com.au/public/community/our-branches/wynnum-manly
And see our previous article about the bank opening here…
https://wynnumcentral.com.au/new-bank-coming-to-town/
Good, no-one goes into a branch anymore unless they really have to anyway. Replace them with quality restaurants, cafes, boutique stores, bars and other decent retail. DON’T replace them with more dollar stores, chemists, fast food outlets or real estate agents. If you want to improve Wynnum, you have to improve the reasons to go there.
As I understood it, ANZ left because they were unable to renew their lease. Given the number of empty properties in the Wynnum Central area I thought this a bit strange. Perhaps they just used it as an excuse. I wrote to Cr. Cumming to see if he could offer some assistance but had no response. My concern was that elderly citizens, who perhaps may not be computer savvy, no have no choice but to either head to the ATM at Wynnum Plaza or take a trip to Capalaba.
Two ATMs also removed from Wynnum Plaza – NAB and Westpac