Across Australia’s rural and regional towns, many local bank branches have closed in recent years. To make life easier for people who still need to do daily or weekly banking, Bank@Post is available at thousands of Post Offices around the country.
Key points
- Bank@Post provides a valuable community service in regional and rural communities where local bank branches have closed
- With access to more than 70+ financial institutions, including key partners ANZ, CommBank, nab and Westpac, you’ll find it easy to manage your money locally
- With more than 3,300 Post Offices providing access to Bank@Post services, you or your small business can conveniently make withdrawals, deposits and balance enquiries in communities all across Australia
How bank branch closures affect regional business banking
For regional business owners like Cher Ney and Sarah Evans and CFA Captain Allen Treble, Bank@Post provides valuable services for their community.
Cher, who runs Salon Inspired Hair and Beauty in Strathfieldsaye, Victoria, says every minute in every busy day counts. So when local bank branches started shutting down in town, she was facing the prospect of round-trips to nearby Bendigo to do her business banking.
“The time I spent heading into a bank branch took me away from my clients and running my business,” she says. And her business is just getting busier and busier, as more people quit the Melbourne rat-race to embrace the lifestyle and local community that small towns like Strathfieldsaye offer.
“Not having a bank branch in the local area used to be a real problem for businesses like mine – but it’s not an issue anymore,” says Cher.
Read transcript
Video: The Australia Post logo sits in the bottom right corner. Text: "Sarah Evans, Strathfieldsaye Bakery, and Bank@Post customer." A blonde woman stands inside a bakery. Text: “Find out how Bank@Post is helping Strathfieldsaye Bakery stay in their community.” Sarah and three other women work behind the bakery counter. Footage of the town of Strathfieldsaye is shown, including a sign that lists out shops at the Strathfieldsaye Hub. An aerial shot of the regional landscape is shown. In a post office, Sarah counts out money, then puts her card in an EFTPOS machine. She waves as she leaves.
Audio: Sarah: My name’s Sarah, this is Strathfieldsaye Bakery in regional Victoria and I am the bakery manager. Recently, our local bank closed, so we haven’t got any banks out here in regional Strathfieldsaye anymore, so Bank@Post has just been a great service for our local community and for our local businesses. We use it as a one stop shop really. While we can deposit and withdraw, we also get our parcels delivered there. It’s just such a great resource being 10km out of Bendigo as well, it saves local business owners or just the local community having to commute out of town all the time when they can just pop to the Post Office, it’s great. I think a lot of the older people in our community really appreciate the security that they feel when they’re going in to do their banking, so it’s been a really vital service for us to have out here.
Video: The Australia Post logo appears on a red background.
Bank@Post fills the gap for regional businesses
The reason it’s no longer an issue? Cher and other small business owners in Strathfieldsaye are using Australia Post’s Bank@Post service. Bank@Post provides personal and business customers with access to over 70 banks and financial institutions, including key partners ANZ, CommBank, Westpac and NAB.
There are 3,300 Post Offices around Australia that offer the Bank@Post service. Over the counter and depending on which bank or financial institution they’re with, people like Cher can make withdrawals, deposit cash and cheques, or make balance enquiries1. And no fees apply from Australia Post2
Sarah Evans, the manager of the local bakery in Strathfieldsaye, agrees. “Having Bank@Post available to our local community is amazing. All of the small businesses can use it to make deposits and withdrawals and get small change – it’s just such a great resource. Being 10 kilometres out of Bendigo, it saves us from commuting out of town all the time.”
And it’s not just about the convenience of being able to do everyday and business banking. Cher says, “It’s so nice to go somewhere where they know who you are, and can have a conversation. The banking is just an added bonus.”
Read transcript
Video: The Australia Post logo sits in the bottom right corner. Text: "Cher Ney, Salon Inspired Hair and Beauty, and Bank@Post customer." A woman with auburn hair stands in a beauty salon talking to camera. Text: “Find out how Bank@Post is making banking convenient for Hair and Beauty in Strathfieldsaye.” Footage of the community of Strathfieldsaye appears including a sign listing out stores at Strathfieldsaye Hub. A women walks into a salon. Cher does a woman's hair. Cher approaches the counter of a post office. Cher hands over $50 notes to a post office employee and taps her card at the EFTPOS terminal to deposit them into her account. Cher interacts with the post office staff member.
Audio: Cher: Hi, I'm Cher. I have Salon Inspired Hair and Beauty in Strathfieldsaye, we’ve been out here for 10 years and we look after the local community's hair and beauty needs. Hairdressing is an industry that is going to survive pretty much anything, drought, flood, pandemic, it’s always going to be needed, and no one can take that away from us. We deposit our cash takings at Bank at Post, they’re literally right next door. It’s much safer for me to be able to duck out, walk three steps to make deposits for my business. You want to be maximising our time usage and if we can use the local Australia Post to do all of our banking services, then, yeah absolutely, that’s where we’re going to do it. I know Rob and the guys in there, it’s just a friendly atmosphere. They can have a conversation with you about what’s happening in your area, the convenience of using the Bank at Post services as well is just an added bonus
Video: The Australia Post logo appears on a red background.
Ideal for community groups, too
Further east in Victoria, Allen Treble is the Nagambie CFA Captain. This is a voluntary role – he’s also a sheep farmer. But a key part of his role in heading up the local brigade is to take care of money matters. As well as funding from the government, the Nagambie CFA receives regular community donations to help them purchase vital fire-fighting equipment.
“We go down to Australia Post at least three or four times a week to deposit donation money,” said Treble. These visits invariably involve a chat with other locals too, offering a great way for Treble to stay connected to his local community.
Read transcript
Video: The Australia Post logo sits in the bottom right corner. Rolling video captures a regional landscape at sunrise. Community members are shown interacting. Wearing a CFA hat, a green jumper and grey vest, Allen talks to the camera. Wearing a yellow CFA suit, the camera cuts to Allen sitting behind the wheel of a fire truck. Text: "Allen Treble, Nagambie, CFA Captain." Allen talks to the camera. Footage of the Nagambie fire brigade and its members are shown interacting with fire equipment. A CFA fundraiser is shown, with CFA members sitting at a trestle table and members of the community talking to them. Allen wearing a Country Fire Authority hat strolls through a small town. Outside a red brick post office, he chats with an Australia Post employee. Allen is shown patting a dalmatian dog.
Audio: Allen: What’s great about living in Nagambie is when you walk down the street or you go to the supermarket you get caught up for about an hour. If someone has a problem we all rally together and fix that problem. My name’s Allen Treble, I’ve lived here all my life, I’m a sheep farmer, I’m also a volunteer here at the Nagambie Fire Brigade. The CFA is not just about putting out fires, there’s members that come and sit here for the sake of sitting here. There’s members who just come down to wash the trucks on Sundays and there’s people who just pull in from out of town and want to have a look at the fire station. Even though that the state government does fund us, the community does generate a lot of our earnings, then we are able to purchase vital equipment. We go down to Australia Post at least three to four times a week, deposit our donation money, then we stand around and have a bit of a chat with Andrew, the Australia Post manager. Before you know it, you’re stuck around there for half an hour talking to the local people. It’s just a great vibe and a great hub down there. It’s one big family really. That’s just what small country towns and communities are all about.
Video: The Australia Post logo appears on a red background.
Getting started with Bank@Post
A great first step for any small business thinking about using Bank@Post is to check that your local Post Office offers the service.
You can find your nearest participating Post Office using this search tool. You’ll also need to check if your bank or financial institution is part of Bank@Post.
Then, it’s simply a matter of popping into your local Post Office for a chat – or a transaction. You’ll soon see how easy it is.
Keep banking local with Bank@Post
Make deposits, withdrawals and balance enquiries closer to home at participating Post Offices.
This article was originally published on 21 November 2021 and has been updated with new information.
Bank@Post is an agency service provided by Australia Post on behalf of over 70 financial institutions. Bank@Post is available at participating Post Offices. Services available are cash withdrawals, deposits and balance inquiries. Consult your financial institution for terms and conditions of the Bank@Post service. Limits apply.
1 Balance enquiries available for selected banks. Refer to our Bank@Post page for further details.
2 We don’t charge you fees to use Bank@Post. Please check your account terms and conditions or ask your financial institution if they will charge you for using Bank@Post. Your financial institution will generally include Bank@Post transaction fees when calculating the account keeping and/or transaction fees for your account. Your financial institution can provide details of any terms and conditions that apply when you use Bank@Post.