Flinders Council mayor Rachel Summers claims big businesses overlook small communities

The bank currently operates a franchised community service agent at Whitemark Post Office, but this will close permanently at 3pm, July 11 with the nearest full-service branch located at Launceston.

Cr Summers said she was caught off-guard by the news, and said the Bank@Post service that would continue to be available at the location was an inadequate replacement.

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"If we need to open an account, if we need to get a loan, if we need to do anything where we have to go in store we are quite literally having to get on a plane to go and do that," she said.

"Australia Post can only carry $5000 a day.

"If we have someone come in and they want to take out large amounts of cash to pay a bill to someone and then a shop comes in and wants some change, it could be that no one else is able to take money out [that day]."

Cr Summers added community groups and community events could suffer, as community markets and raffle ticket purchases in particular were still cash-in-hand affairs.

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A Bendigo and Adelaide Bank spokesman previously said a switch to online and phone banking prompted a the closure of regional branches.

The Flinders Council mayor said that trend did not hold true in the Furneaux Group, as the census showed the islands had a substantial population of older people.

"The knock on effects on our community will be quite devastating," Cr Summers said.

"45 per cent of our community is over the age of 60.

"We've still got people who don't have smartphones, some still use a flip phone. They can't access online banking through their phone, are they expected to go out and buy a computer just so they can access the bank?"

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The mayor also raised concerns that older residents were not as tech-savvy as younger generations and could be easy prey for scammers.

Cr Summers said she was advocating the issue with higher levels of government, including the ongoing Senate inquiry, and that banks needed to reconsider their roles in small communities.

"Big business does need to think about the smaller communities ... we've very much been forgotten," she said.

"It might not make them millions of dollars, but it's providing a valuable service to those communities."

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