Australian Banking Faces Scrutiny Over Declining Inclusivity and Accessibility

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New data showing a continued decline in the number of physical banking services around Australia has raised concerns among advocates who say banking needs to be inclusive and accessible.

From June 2020 to June 2025, the number of bank branches across Australia fell by 33 per cent, with a 4.6 per cent drop in the last year alone, newly released data from Australia’s chief financial industry regulator shows.

Over the 2020-2025 timespan, the number of ATMs fell by 47 per cent, according to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) annual Points of Presence report.

The latest report offers an in-depth look at the banking services available to Australians, detailing everything from in-person branch interactions to alternative face-to-face service points. It also covers banking options at Australia Post (Bank@Post), as well as the availability of ATMs and EFTPOS machines.

A table showing the decline in the number of bank branches, ATMs and banking services at Australia Post from 2020 to 2025

Advocates argue that despite advances in technology, access to the internet, security issues, and technological challenges make it crucial for traditional banking and cash options to remain available.

“While it’s important to drive technological innovation, it’s equally vital to ensure financial services are inclusive and accessible to all,” Zhou emphasized.

Grice highlighted the valuable role bank tellers play in safeguarding customers, noting, “Tellers have been instrumental in identifying situations where a caregiver or family member may be exerting undue pressure on an elder regarding their financial matters.”

Chris Grice, CEO of National Seniors Australia, told SBS News that despite many older Australians transitioning to digital banking, many find digital systems challenging and some cannot afford or operate smart devices to use banking apps.

Face-to face interactions with bank tellers can also be important for identifying older Australians who may be experiencing financial elder abuse, Grice said.

In the government’s 2022 Survey of Older People snapshot, 2 per cent of people aged 65 and older living in the community reported experiencing financial abuse in the past year.

“Bank tellers have done a great job over time in actually flagging or identifying circumstances whereby a carer or family member, they’ve basically been pressuring or intimidating an older person in terms of their money situation,” Grice said.

Grice added that younger people must also rely on face-to-face banking in certain circumstances.

“If you’re trying to sort out deceased estates, you can’t do these things electronically. They need to see physical copies, they need to cite the copies, as in, original documents,” he said.

Shortfalls in tech and internet coverage also sometimes necessitate physical services.

Cash and in-person banking can become crucial to all Australians when banking apps fail, Grice noted.

Australia’s major banks — including CommBank, Bank Australia, Westpac and NAB — have all experienced online banking failures in the past two years.

Zhou said face-to-face banking can be essential for those living in regional and rural areas because digital banking relies on internet service, and internet infrastructure in such areas is “relatively weaker, compared to the metro areas”.

Security concerns and scams

Patricia Sparrow, CEO of the Council on the Ageing Australia (COTA), told SBS News that face-to-face banking also remains important for those with security concerns.

“Any large financial transaction that you do, it’s actually easier to go in and speak to a branch than having to do it all online,” she said.

“I’ve spoken to people who have done a big financial transaction — that might be whether they’ve moved house or whatever it is — and they’re very nervous about doing that online.”

Sparrow said in-person banking can also feel more reassuring to older Australians, who are the demographic most likely to be targeted by and fall victim to scammers.

“If you’ve been the victim of a scam, you’re going to be very uncertain and not confident to do something online. Going to somebody who can really help you is going to be important,” she said.

According to recent data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australians are reporting fewer scams in 2025 compared to previous years, but reports of financial losses to the National anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch service have increased significantly.

Banks ‘pivotal’ to regional communities

Both Grice and Sparrow said there are flow-on effects for local communities when bank branches close.

Grice said banks and Australia Post are “pivotal and central to a community and maintaining the prosperity of those communities”.

“If Australia Post is shut down in a town or their bank is shut down in a town, that means people have to go to the next town to do that sort of stuff,” he said.

“What happens therefore is that normal trade, people who might have a coffee or lunch or whatever, they don’t buy it in their local town; they buy it when they have their trip 40 or 50 minutes down the road.”

Sparrow said bank branches closing can make it more difficult for small businesses in regional areas to operate, and there is a loss of connection for people who need face-to-face banking services.

“We don’t want to lose the human connection and what’s important in the community. I know there’s lots of jokes about bankers but it is an essential service and people actually do like going in and talking to a real person and not everything being automated,” she said.

Government mandate for accepting cash

A list of recommendations published following a 2023 Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia included the government adopting a policy to recognise access to financial services as essential, including a commitment to guaranteeing reasonable access to cash and financial services for all Australians.

The Senate committee also recommended a banking code of conduct or customer service code that included a “robust branch closure process” that would include meaningful consultation with communities before a branch is closed and ongoing support for access to cash and essential banking services.

This year, regional and remote areas experienced the smallest fall recorded since the APRA data series began, due to a moratorium on regional branch closures agreed between the federal government and major banks in February this year and running through to mid-2027.

Last year, the Albanese government also pledged to mandate businesses to accept cash when selling essential items such as groceries and fuel, with a proposed start date of January 2026.

On Friday, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced the government was releasing a draft of those regulations.

“We recognise that Australians are increasingly using digital payment methods, but there will be an ongoing place for cash in our society under the Albanese Government,” Mulino said.

Grice said a mandate is necessary to keep banks from closing branches.

“We need to make sure that there’s a follow-through on this particular process; it’s important. To have physical cash as a backup is important,” he said.