They will be based around a Smart ATM with staff available to assist customers
FIRST Union supports the trial of banking hubs in four New Zealand regions as the country seeks to maintain face-to-face services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, retain jobs in banking, and ensure that rural areas don't lose vital infrastructure.
Major banks in New Zealand – such as ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, TSB, and Westpac – will run a year-long trial in Twizel, Martinborough, Stoke, and Opunake beginning this month.
They will be based around a Smart ATM that provides for deposits and withdrawals, with three sites including community partners who will host the hub and provide staff services. Other basic transactions will be available on tablets and phones, with staff to assist.
Callum Francis, FIRST Union national organiser for finance, said other regional branches could benefit from the experiment, and other proposed regional closures of bank branches must not go ahead until this model has been tested.
“We're glad to see the importance of face-to-face banking being highlighted by the Bankers' Association and that banks themselves are aware that regional closures during COVID-19 would be a disaster,” Francis said.
He added that losing infrastructure would make it more difficult for the sector to recover from the pandemic.
“Regional Banking Hubs represent collaboration across brands for the good of our communities, and this is a welcome change to the incessant competition between banks that puts undue pressure on rural branches,” he continued.
“Banking is about more than money, and many people simply prefer face-to-face, real-life relationships with bank workers in their communities who they've sometimes been seeing for years.”
