Agriculture
22 July, 2025
Bendigo Bank pulls plug on all agencies
BENDIGO Bank will close its agency network in October and pull out of Wedderburn and Boort. This afternoon's announcement ended weeks of speculation on a decision expected from the bank's head office that sees all remaining 26 agencies clolsing...
BENDIGO Bank will close its agency network in October and pull out of Wedderburn and Boort.
This afternoon's announcement ended weeks of speculation on a decision expected from the bank's head office that sees all remaining 26 agencies clolsing within months.
Full report and reaction in your Loddon Herald out Thursday.
The bank says:
Bendigo Bank’s purpose is to feed into the prosperity of its customers and the community. The Bank operates the second largest regional branch network and has more branches per customer than any other Australian bank.
Bendigo Bank’s agency model, established more than 30 years ago, enabled the Bank to offer limited banking services via third parties in areas where there was not enough customer demand to sustain a branch.
Following a review, Bendigo Bank has concluded that its agency model can no longer be supported due to decreasing customer use and other relevant factors and will be retired from October 2025. The Bank apologises to customers that use these agencies for any inconvenience. With over 400 locations nationally, the Bank remains committed to its physical network and the personalised interactions that occur in branches every day.
Bendigo Bank’s Chief Customer Officer Consumer, Taso Corolis, said the difficult decision to retire the agency model has been informed by evolving customer preferences leading to reductions in business activity, limited use of these services, and an increase in costs and compliance obligations.
“Bendigo Bank operates more branches per customer than any other Australian bank and Australia’s second largest regional branch network. We are proud of our regional heritage and are committed to providing face-to-face banking services for our customers.”
“To preserve what makes our bank unique, we must prioritise our investments across both physical and digital channels to continue meeting the changing needs and growing expectations of our 2.7 million customers.”
“We understand it may take time for some customers to adjust to these changes and we will support them through this. We are proactively supporting customers affected by the closures and will offer them assistance. This may be in the form of connecting them with their closest alternate service, including nearest branch or Bank@Post locations, and walking them through e-banking services available, when required,” he said.