Banking takes to the road

The Westpac Community Banking van

How do you make sure people in widespread communities can easily access banking services?

Westpac NZ has come up with an innovative solution – bring the bank to the people.   

Southland locals have this month welcomed a brightly-coloured new Westpac community banking van to their roads as part of a pilot service intended to improve banking access in New Zealand’s regions.  

The Southland van will spend one day each week in Winton, Windsor and Te Anau. 

Westpac employees from various Southland branches travel with the van to the different locations, helping locals with everything from lending applications through to opening accounts or using digital channels.  

The van is cashless, but the Westpac team can assist customers to use nearby ATMs where possible. 

The service is currently a pilot, but Andrew Twidle, Westpac NZ’s Head of Customer Experience, says Westpac is always looking at how it can best serve communities across the country.  

“We’ve been running a pilot of a community banking service in Wairoa for the past six months, with one of our team based in the Wairoa Heartland Service Centre once a fortnight to support customers,” Mr Twidle says.   

“That service has received very positive feedback from locals, and we’re pleased to be committing to it for the next year.  

“We’re also excited to get feedback from our Southland communities on the new community banking van. We want to serve our customers in the ways that best suit them.”