Abandoned - that is how Westpac Ferrymead customers are feeling after the bank announced it is closing its doors on August 8.
Two of those customers are Heathcote married couple, Graham and Nancy Wilson, both 77, who have been coming into Westpac Ferrymead once a week for the past 30 years.
“It means I’ve got to go a lot further to go to a bank,” said Graham.
He suffers from arthritis which makes it even more difficult for him to get around.
Letters informing customers of the branch’s closure were delivered last week.
Said regional manager Leah McIvor: “With Westpac The Palms and Westpac Barrington branches only 15 minutes drive away and more customers choosing to do their banking online, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the Ferrymead branch.”
Said Graham: "I’m being forced to go to a place I don’t know, I like to just get around local.”
“We don’t have a computer for a start, we don’t have an email address, so we rely on this one here,” he said.
"I was very upset to hear the news because there are so few cash points.
"I’m not very good with computers being elderly and it’s much easier to go into the branch, ask a few questions and I feel better,” she said.
Pam lives in Hillsborough, making it convenient for her to bank in Ferrymead.
She cannot drive, so she would have to take the orbiter bus to Barrington to do her banking after August 8.
She was driven to Westpac by her son, David Capaldi, who has experience as an aged care worker.
“It's the same for all of them (elderly), they're isolated, they can't get out. If they don't use computers and if they haven't got a physical branch, they're kind of stuffed,” he said.
Customers who bank at Ferrymead will have their accounts automatically transferred to Westpac The Palms branch, located at 20‑22 Marshland Rd, Shirley.
