Research from fintech Zeller indicates that business owners in regional areas feel disproportionately impacted by closures of their local bank branches.
The Zeller Regional Report: Shining a Spotlight on Regional Businesses, based upon a survey of 420 of the company’s merchants trading across metro and non-metro areas, found that 53 per cent of regional businesses say they have been negatively impacted by branch closures of the banks belonging to the “big four”. In addition, 81 per cent said that they received worse customer support from their bank after their local branch closed.
Revealingly, 57 per cent of regional business owners feel that banks are leaving regional areas to grow profits. Because of this, 67 per cent of non-metro businesses prefer a non-big four payments and financial services provider.
Zeller notes that the findings support as well the increasing adoption of new technology to support regional business payments and financial services that have been noted elsewhere. Already, Australian merchants are embracing new financial services and payments technology providers who offer integrated payments, transaction accounts, and business Mastercards backed by reliable uptime and accessible, local support.
The report documents the top challenges for merchants, sentiment towards the big four banks following increasing branch closures in regional areas, and the growing opportunities for regional business owners following the impacts of pandemic-triggered lockdowns.
