Anger over looming north Invercargill Kiwibank closure

Thursday, 17 October 2019

Betty Sinclair, right, has launched a petition to try and keep open the Kiwibank branch in her store in Windsor, north Invercargill. She is standing beside employee and daughter Lisa Hart.

A store owner says she will 'fight to the bitter end' to keep a branch of Kiwibank open in north Invercargill.

Betty Sinclair, owner of Windsor Stationary and Lotto which has a Kiwibank and PostShop inside, has launched a petition this week to keep Kiwibank in her shop.

About 1000 people have signed the petition in the first two and a half days, she says.

Kiwibank is shutting down its Windsor and Waikiwi branches in Invercargill, but keeping its south city branch open and turning its Don St branch into a stand alone Kiwibank.

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A bank spokesman says the Waikiwi branch will close in early December and the Windsor branch will close in March due to declining transaction volumes.

More than 96 per cent of its customers using the two branches also use alternative methods of banking such as internet banking, mobile app, telephone banking or another branch.

'For the small number of customers that only use these branches [52 for Windsor and 33 for Waikiwi], we understand that this change could be stressful and unsettling.'

But Sinclair says elderly and blind people don't want to have to travel into the city to do their Kiwibank banking.

It is 'common sense' for Kiwibank to keep its branch open in Windsor as carparking is close by and it suits customers in that part of town, she says.

She believes some customers will change banks if it shuts in March.

'It's a New Zealand bank and they should be looking after New Zealanders.

'We have to keep as much as we can up here in Windsor and we will fight to the bitter end.'

The Kiwibank spokeswoman says the way customers use its branches has changed and the bank is having to adapt.

'Our customers … login to our app or internet banking once or twice a day and only visit our physical stores once or twice a year,' she says.

Less than 10 per cent of its service transactions occur within its physical branches.

Having four Kiwibank locations within a 4km radius in Invercargill is not sustainable, she says.

Those customers who do not want to travel to another branch will be provided with the skills to achieve faster and cheaper banking alternatives, she says.

The NZ Post/Kiwibank branch in Invercargill's Don St will become a standalone Kiwibank in November.