Data shows Tasmania lost 46 banks, 174 ATMs over the last five years

The trend comes with an uptick in electronic banking and a lower reliance on cash.

The data comes from APRA's Points of Presence data from June 2023 which showed that across the country the number of branches dropped by 11 percent in the space of a year (30 June 2022-30 June 2023).

Of the Big Four Australian banks, Westpac closed the most number of branches in the last year, closing 167 branches across the country. This was followed by ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and NAB.

In total, the Big Four closed 375 banks over the last year, a decrease of 15 per cent.

The latest Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) consumer payment survey showed cash made up just 13 per cent of the number of all payments in 2022. This is more than half of what it was (27 per cent) in 2019.

But RateCity's research director Sally Tindall said while cash "is no longer king" it's "not dead in the water either".

"RBA statistics show over $8 billion is withdrawn from ATMs across the country every single month, confirming we're not a cashless society just yet," she said.

The majority of banking services have moved online but some customers still prefer face to face services and going physically into a bank for deposits or withdrawals, Ms Tindall said.

According to the RBA "high cash users" who use cash for 80 per cent of payments made up 7 per cent of Australians in 2022. That number according to the RBA has halved since 2019.

In Northern Tasmania, Commonwealth Bank reduced operating hours of some of its branches with a shift to more phone services.

Branches in Deloraine, Scottsdale, Exeter, George Town, Longford and St Helens reduced their hours to 9.30am to 1pm, with staff then working at a call centre from 1.45pm.

Earlier this year, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said it would close its agency on Flinders Island. Its customers have access to the Bank@Post service at the Flinders Island post office.

Ms Tindall said "the move to online banking has caused banks to reassess their points of presence," she said.

"To counter this, some banks have decided to piggyback on existing facilities such as third-party ATM networks and Australia Post branches to provide customers with more access to basic services."

"Australia Post branches play an important role in keeping competition in the banking sector alive, because of the basic banking services they provide.

However at a Senates Estimates meeting this week, Australia Post CEO Paul Graham said it made "no sense" to have as many outlets as it previously did.

"We will never abandon the regions and rural Australia, but it makes no sense for Australia Post to keep the same number of post offices where there is a clear oversupply and where customers are simply not using the service," Mr Graham said.

Bank closures have also been the subject of a Senate Inquiry.

Ms Tindall said that with the inquiry receiving 566 submissions, "the issue of regional and remote branch closures is a significant one."

"Banks provide an important service in regional and remote communities that extends beyond the basic fundamentals of accepting and dispensing cash."