ASB shutting nine branches for good, further 25 to operate with reduced hours

July 1, 2020

An additional 25 branches will operate only three days a week, starting next month.

ASB is closing some of its bank branches and reducing opening hours for others as less and less customers physically go into branches to do their banking.

In a statement today, the bank said nine branches in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury and Otago will permanently close, while 25 others throughout the country will move to operating three days a week from 9am - 4.30pm.

The changes will have taken affect by August 3.

"Kiwis’ expectations of their bank are changing. In the past five years for example, at ASB we’ve seen a 42 per cent decline in branch transactions, and now 85 per cent of our personal customers prefer the convenience of our online and mobile services," ASB’s executive general manager Retail Banking Craig Sims said.

He also said since lockdown in March, about 13,500 customers had used the bank's digital channels for the first time to do their banking, and that they continued to do so.

"Making changes to our branches is never easy. The branches not reopening have experienced very low number of customers using the branch," Mr Sims said.

"Some for example serve only 900 customers a year so that’s only two to three a day. There is also a branch nearby for customers to use."

Mr Sims also said no jobs would be lost and that the bank wasn't diminishing support for its customers.

He said ASB was recruiting for more than 150 roles to provide "specialist guidance and advice" to its customers. 

"Our team is an important part of this change and no jobs will be lost as a result of these changes. Team members will have the opportunity to move to another branch or other roles within ASB, supported by training to provide more specialised guidance and advice," Mr Sims said. 

While there will still be over 100 branches throughout the country, customers known to be affected by the branch changes will be contacted.

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