Rodney Stevens
Changes to Commonwealth Bank Yamba’s operating hours that will see the Coldstream Street branch close their doors to face-to-face customers starting on November 20 from 1pm Monday to Friday have drawn a mixed reaction from locals who are disappointed all major banks no longer support the town.
The Commonwealth Bank CBA Yamba branch will become one of 23 new multi-channel branches across Australia that will take to the phones to assist customers from 2pm.
From 9.30am to 1pm Monday to Friday, branch staff will serve local customers in person, before they switch to the phones at 2pm as part of CBA’s Australian based Financial Assistance and Direct Banking teams.
This move by the CBA comes after St George, Westpac, and the ANZ all left Yamba over the past few years and NAB reduced its opening hours to 9.30am to 12.30pm, with the CBA announcement leaving BCU Bank as the only full-service bank open 9.30am to 4pm, except Thursday when they are open 9.30 to 5pm.
Research by CBA found in Yamba more customers visit the branch in Coldstream Street in the morning, with 70 per-cent of senior customers and half of small business customers doing their banking before 1pm.
Near the Sea owner Emily Donkin only opened her Coldstream Street business on Wednesday and although she banks with the CBA, she said the changes won’t impact her too much.
“I open at 9.30am and I would always do my banking before I open in the morning, but it would pose problems for some customers I’d imagine,” she said.
Long time CBA customer and Yamba local Tina Woodhead said the reduced hours will impact the elderly population.
“Looking at the population age here I think it is going to impact on people, particularly people who have difficulty using ATM’s all of the time,” she said.
Jenny Tsai said over the last few years Maclean has lost NAB, St George and CBA branches and Yamba had lost St George, Westpac, and ANZ branches, plus the NAB have reduced their opening hours.
“I’ve heard people have been swapping banks when banks close in the Lower Clarence,” she said.
Blue Allure owner and CBA customer Christine Thomas said it would be great to see the CBA continue to support Yamba.
“I think it is going to make a big difference to Yamba, but what ever we say the bank will still continue with its changes,” she said.
Staff will be trained to help customers with a range of banking needs on the telephone and by December, CBA will have almost 400 branch staff across regional Australia working in 113 multi-channel branches.
CBA Yamba branch manager Holly Bourke said becoming a multi-channel branch gives staff the opportunity to learn new specialist skills to support more Australians.
“We are proud to serve the local community and are here to help customers find easy and convenient banking solutions as they adjust to our new schedule,” she said.
Outside of the new trading hours, customers can do transactions face-to-face at the Yamba Post shop and the branch’s deposit ATM is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.