Cherrywood resident petitions to stop bank branch closure

An elderly resident of Cherrywood already has 460 signatures on a petition he plans to give to Westpac this week, in a bid to stop the closure of the local branch

An elderly resident of Cherrywood already has 460 signatures on a petition he plans to give to Westpac this week, in a bid to stop the closure of the local branch, the NZ Herald reports. 

The move by 87-year-old Murray Grimmer comes after Westpac Bank recently announced the potential closures of its branches around the country and ANZ Bank's Greerton branch also prepares to close. 

"What I'm growling about is that 75 per cent of the people that live around here are 70-years or older and they don't want to go online banking because they don't understand it," Grimmer told the NZ Herald. 

"It'll be the dying knock on Cherrywood,” he said. “Cherrywood was a vibrant little township." 

Grimmer said shop keepers and shoppers had been very responsive. 

"They think it's the worst thing that's ever happened. One lady used some four letter language and knocked me back," he said.  

Although there is a Kiwibank at Cherrywood, Grimmer said many locals had recently changed from ANZ Bank to Westpac.

"My wife got caught up in the changeover, she was ANZ and just changed everything over to Westpac."

When the NZ Herald asked a Westpac spokesperson about the closure of the Cherrywood branch, they said more than 85% of transactions were not branch based. 

"In addition, over the last five years, online transactions increased by 61% and in the last year online logins via a mobile device have increased by 33%.

"This has seen us add 20 Smart ATMs that provide 24/7 service over the last two years, complete nine refurbishments with another five planned before the end of the year in addition to a new site in Auckland."