WE WISH to inform the community that the Bendigo Bank has officially ruled out the possibility of establishing a Community Bank in Korumburra. This decision will leave our town without a physical bank presence once the doors close on August 29. The ATM will no longer be available after this date. 

The Bank has advised that their decision not to establish a Community Bank is based on several factors, including the close proximity to their corporate branch in Leongatha and the long term performance of the Korumburra branch, which they feel does not provide confidence in the sustainability of a Community Banking model. Additionally, the Community Bank model has changed significantly since it began and now requires up to ten times the level of community investment, which the Bendigo Bank believes would place an unreasonable financial risk on our community.

In light of the closure, the Bank is contacting customers who do not currently operate an account with card access and is encouraging them to switch to accounts that will allow them to use banking services offered at the Post Office.

The Save the Bank group has successfully negotiated some funding for Milpara Community House, situated on the lower level of the Community Hub, to assist affected residents, particularly those receiving pensions, to have the details with Services Australia changed to their new account. This assistance will be on Tuesday’s between 10am-4pm.

We have also secured a waiver of fees at Bank@Post for two years, which will help ease this change.

Community groups will need to apply for a card attached to their accounts in order to make deposits at the Post Office.

We did manage to retain a reduced-hours branch for the past four years, following the Bank’s original decision to close in 2021. While we are grateful for the extra time this provided, we acknowledge this current outcome is far from ideal for our town and leaves us bitterly disappointed that a town our size is left without a bank.

Korumburra “Save our Bank” working group