Margaret River Bankwest branch to permanently close as part of mass closures

Bankwest’s Margaret River branch is set to shut up shop as the company announced the closure of all its bank branches across the State on Wednesday afternoon. All 60 locations will close with 15 of those being converted to Commonwealth Bank branches. According to data provided by Bankwest, the Margaret River branch sees an average of 14 customers per day. The announcement is part of Bankwest’s 2024 transition to become a digital bank. Bankwest executive general manager Jason Chan said the transition would be a challenge for some. “I understand this will be difficult news for some of our customers and Bankwest is introducing a range of support measures to help our customers who are regular branch users carefully through this transition,” he said. “It’s critical we prioritise investment for the majority of our customers who expect leading digital and broker banking services, and rarely use branches, but we have a clear focus on the needs of our regular branch users at this time.” Bunbury, Manjimup and Busselton will also have their branches permanently closed in the South West along with other regional centres like Albany, Kalgoorlie, Broome and Geraldton. Four South West branches will transition to CBA branches by the end of the year, those being Dunsborough, Collie, Bridgetown and Pemberton. The closure will impact 350 jobs, but Bankwest ensured it would be helping staff to transition to the digital age through “dedicated reskilling programs”. WA Opposition Leader Shane Love said he had been told regional communities would be kept front of mind but he needed to wait and see if promises were followed through. “I have had assurances from Bankwest that communities, which are currently serviced by their business, will be given the opportunity to transition to CBA customers with direct support from their team,” he said.