Westpac CEO admits they “got it wrong” at Leongatha reopening
Westpac’s Leongatha branch is reopened, returning to face-to-face customer service, a prospect that many believed had been abandoned.
WESTPAC CEO Anthony Miller admitted the bank “got it wrong” when it closed its Leongatha branch back in 2022, as he personally attended the town to reopen the service centre on Tuesday, March 31.
The new Westpac regional service centre in McCartin Street will mark its return to face-to-face banking in Leongatha, a prospect that many believed had been abandoned.
Speaking at the reopening, Mr Miller acknowledged that the banking giant had missed the mark when it decided to leave Leongatha.
“We got that wrong,” he said. “I apologise for that. We’ve corrected that, and we are here today to deliver on that.
The new service centre will have between six and nine staff on site at any given time to offer in-person support to customers, something that many locals have missed since their original closure.
Mr Miller said the bank had since spent time reviewing how to adequately service regional communities. That review ultimately led to the decision to reopen.
“As we reviewed the way we’re providing services across regional Australia, we’ve worked out that there are some areas we pulled back from a few years ago. Leongatha was one of them,” he said.
Mr Miller pointed to changing banking habits among customers as a driving force behind past closures.
“96 per cent of what customers do with the bank is done online,” he said.
“And so, getting that personal connection or that virtual connection through the contact centres, and then also getting that digital online connection right is crucial. Getting a good balance between all those things is a challenge.”
South Gippsland Shire Council mayor Nathan Hersey was also in attendance, welcoming Westpac’s return to Leongatha, especially given the region’s strong focus on agriculture.
“We’re heavily reliant on agriculture. We also have an extremely low unemployment rate, meaning that our businesses are successful businesses,” Cr Hersey said.
“I want to congratulate Westpac for making the move back to Leongatha and recognising that the face-to-face services that we need for our residents are extremely important, and particularly for our agricultural sector and the businesses that serve South Gippsland so well.”
Inverloch-based dairy farmer and Westpac banker Mick Hughes said the closure had forced customers like him into a certain kind of banking.
“It affected us initially, but we’ve gone to internet banking and moved that way. It was sort of forced that way,” he said. “Whereas beforehand, we did like coming into a branch and dealing with a person.”
He said that the return of a face-to-face service would be reassuring for locals like himself.
“If something’s not working the way we want it, it’ll be nice to have the reassurance that we can come in.”
Westpac’s reopenings may not end with Leongatha either, as Miller emphasised that the big four bank would continue to review its past actions.
“There are other towns across the country that we’re looking at, asking ourselves what the right way to serve the community is,” said Miller. “That will include reopening, and in fact, opening new premises across Australia.”
