RURAL COMMUNITIES: ADJUSTING TO A FUTURE WITHOUT BANK BRANCHES

Abstract

This paper reports on a study carried out on the changing nature of financial service delivery in six rural communities in New South Wales and Queensland. All of these towns were revisited to examine changes that had taken place since a previous study undertaken two years earlier when these towns had lost their last bank branch (Beal and Ralston, 1998). The remainder of this paper is in five parts. First, it reviews the background to the major issue concerning the Hawker Inquiry, the closure of bank branches in rural communities, and second, briefly discusses some alternative face-to-face delivery methods. Third, the paper reports on the findings of the survey, including the use of different service providers for savings and investment, transaction services and loans, and the impact of service provision on cash withdrawal and on the shopping habits of residents. This section also reports on respondents' overall satisfaction with the convenience, range and cost of financial services. Fourth, policy implications of the changing nature of financial services provision are discussed and the final section concludes.