Bendigo Bank has pulled out of fundraising partnerships with community groups that have been drumming up business for corporate branches since 2004.
Community enterprise groups were left floundering at the end of 2024 when they received “notices of termination” of agreements telling them the “connected communities” program would end the following month.
Final payments were made in February and groups that have not found alternative funding sources have since folded.
According to Bendigo Bank, the program returned more than $18 million to community groups since inception.
Commissions were paid for any new accounts linked to “connected communities”, which were invested back into local projects.
The bank told community groups however, that it had reviewed this part of its business and determined the contributions were “not sustainable”.
The number of community enterprises affected by the cancellation is not known, but the program was national.
Bendigo Bank recently announced a $514.6 million profit.
It follows recent news that ten branches and 28 agencies will be closed in coming months, leaving 22 regional towns without banking services.
Since now-chief executive Richard Fennell took over the consumer banking division that controls corporate and community banking in 2018, Bendigo Bank has closed 95 branches and 70 agencies.
In doing so, it has left 56 towns with no banking services.
This figure is even higher (better?) than the National Australia Bank, which at 44 is the worst of the big four banks for leaving towns bankless.
Dale Webster is an inaugural recipient of a Walkley Foundation Grant for Freelance Journalism on Regional Australia. This article was originally published on The Regional and has been republished with permission. You can follow Dale on Twitter @TheRegional_au.
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