WESTPAC is investing in regional Australia, with three new banking service centres in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, including Moree.
The Moree branch is now open, with an official opening celebrations scheduled for Monday, October 13 at 10.15am.
Westpac CEO Anthony Miller will attend the Moree branch’s official opening.
Regional Service Centres will provide face-to-face support for retail and business customers, as well as digital banking assistance and access to cash.
Westpac will initially establish three new Service Centres – Moree, Leongatha in Victoria and Smithton in Tasmania.
(from left) Sam Webster, Cade Foster, Brendan St Clair and Alex Roseby have all your banking needs covered at Moree’s Westpac service centre on Balo Street.
Work is underway to bring the new service centre model, which combines retail and business banking, to a number of additional regional locations.
To support growth outside of Australia’s capital cities, the bank will also add 150 new business bankers across its regional network over the next three years.
Westpac CEO Anthony Miller says regional Australia plays a vital role in the nation’s economy.
“Two years ago we announced a moratorium on regional branch closures while we review and strengthen our regional banking services,” Mr Miller said.
“Today marks an important step in delivering on that commitment.
Moree’s new Westpac Bank service centre on Balo Street is now open.
“Regional Australia is pivotal to the nation’s economy. It’s home to a third of the population and contributes 30 per cent to GDP.
“We’re investing in the regions because we want to support the hardworking Australians who live outside of our capital cities,” he said.
The new Regional Service Centres will offer face-to-face support, while cash transactions will be provided through Smart ATMs with bankers on hand to assist.
Help with other needs such as identity verification, personal and business lending, and fraud and scam support will also be available.
“We’ve thought long and hard about how we can provide a face-to-face service for our regional customers,” Mr Miller said.
“While most customers prefer to bank online, this new model will allow us to improve the way we help personal, business and agri customers.
“This includes tailored help for regional business and agribusiness customers looking to start or grow their business, and personal bankers available to assist with daily cash and banking enquiries.
“Each service centre might also look and feel a little different, with certain services scaled up or down depending on the needs of the respective community,” he said.
The Moree Regional Service Centre is the first to open, with three local business and agri bankers already on-the-ground to be joined by two personal bankers.
The Leongatha and Smithton Service Centres will open in early 2026.
Good to hear and very much needed. We recently had to add a new administrator to the business bank which necessitated a trip to Narrabri to do so.