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Bankwest staff pressured to send customers online ahead of widespread closures, union says

Bank staff are under pressure to direct customers away from branches, the union representing financial services workers says.

Last week Bankwest announced it would close 60 branches in Western Australia by the end of the year, leaving some regional communities without in-person service.

Bankwest said the decision to go fully digital was driven by “rapidly changing customer preferences, with 97 per cent of all Bankwest transactions now completed digitally and fewer than two per cent of customers visiting a branch regularly”.

But Wendy Streets from the Finance Sector Union said this was not the full picture and said the proof was in the bank’s internal documents.

“There’s certainly an element of customers who are going to digital banking, there’s no doubt about that,” she told the ABC.

“But what we know from our members is they are forced to send customers onto the digital path of banking.

“Their annual performance reviews and their [key performance indicators —KPIs] have a dedicated portion for digital migration of customers.

“So when banks say customers are making these decisions, that’s not 100 per cent true.

“A lot of the customers are being driven to that by the bank’s own behaviours.”

‘More effective means’
The union sent the ABC a 2020 Bankwest job advertisement for a teller role that listed the ability to “introduce customers to more effective means of banking” and “[supporting] migration initiatives” as key accountability criteria.

It also sent an internal Bankwest document entitled FY24 Key Performance Indicators that listed “digital migration” as a weighted KPI.

In a statement responding to questions about the digital migration KPIs, Bankwest told the ABC that its “company-wide goals” were “focused on helping our customers’ access simple and easy banking solutions, wherever they choose to do so, while retaining a range of options for customers to access cash services if they prefer”.

“We believe it will always be important to educate our customers on alternative banking options, safely and securely,” a spokesman said.

“We receive positive feedback from many customers on the choice and convenience this offers them.”

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